


Not My Father's Son

by alpineshoodratt



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abduction, Abuse, Alpha Dean, Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Blind Castiel, Breeding, Dean Winchester is Protective of Castiel, Death, Emotionally Hurt Castiel, F/F, F/M, Full Shift Werewolves, Hurt Castiel, Incest, Kidnapping, M/M, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Character Death, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Omega Castiel, Omega Castiel/Alpha Dean Winchester, Protective Dean, Protective Dean Winchester, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Scarred Dean, Sibling Incest, Sick Castiel, Werewolf Mates, Werewolf Sex, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 00:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9852842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alpineshoodratt/pseuds/alpineshoodratt
Summary: Chuck Edlund, Head Alpha of the Messenger pack, had four pups.His Beta mate Naomi gave him two strong Alpha sons, Michael and Lucifer, a Beta daughter, Anna, and an Omega son, Castiel.Omega wolves were rare, the Messenger pack hadn't been blessed with one since Chuck's sister, Amara, who died birthing a Beta son, Gadreel, for her Beta mate, Ezekiel.But the Head Alpha's youngest pup was born small, sickly and weak.Chuck blamed Naomi for his Omega son's poor health. No longer tenting with her or accepting the pup as his offspring.Castiel was the shame of the Messenger pack.John Winchester, Head Alpha of the Winchester pack, was the proud father of three male pups.His Honored Omega, Mary, had birthed two Alpha sons, Dean and Sam, before dying six months after her youngest was born from a winter fever.The Head Alpha re-mated a Beta named Kate who gave him a Beta son, Adam.John's offspring grew up strong and honorable.  The leader of the Winchesters was slaughtered by three trespassing wolves just shy of his oldest son's 20th birthday.Dean became the Head Alpha of the Winchester pack.





	1. Outcast Omega

Castiel was five years old when he realized he was different.  
That he didn't have a father like the other pups in his pack.  
That those pups pointed, laughed and refused to play with the tiny Omega.  
That his mother was the only one that loved him. 

By the time he was ten, those points and laughs had evolved to pushes, shoves and foul names.  
Castiel found out what an abomination was, knew the definition of bastard but had to ask Naomi why he was called a 'breeding bitch'.  
"You're an Omega, sweetheart. Those words are a very mean way of saying that, although you are male, you will one day have pups like a Beta female. The ignorance of our pack is proven by the way they treat you. You are a blessing; a miracle and I am very proud to be your mother. Never forget that, my precious Castiel."  
The Omega squeezed his mother tightly around her waist.  
Naomi always had a way of making him feel better.  
Because Castiel was without a father to teach him to hunt, he was schooled by his mother in what roots and vegetation were safe to eat. He learned to gather herbs and healing plant life, learned to create clothing from animal hide.  
What the pack would call 'woman's work.'  
Naomi promised him that living this humble existence would ensure his admittance to a peaceful place in the afterlife. That Odin would reward him greatly for his suffering. 

When he was 12, his mother told him he could go in to heat anytime. Although he wasn't completely clear on what that was, other than his body preparing to receive his mate's seed, the idea terrified him.  
Suddenly every male in the pack was a threat in his mind.  
Castiel was washing clothes in the stream, alone as he was always alone, when Balthazar approached. The Omega prepared himself for the insults and possible beating that would follow, refused to look up.  
"Hello, Castiel."  
Balthazar's voice was soft, unthreatening; the Omega had learned long ago that was how the other pups trapped him. They would be nice; act as if they were his friends, then attack. Once they held him under the water until Michael, thankfully, chased them off.  
"Not talking today?"  
Cas concentrated on the clothing in his hand, heart speeding up as the Beta moved closer.  
"I'm not going to hurt you..."  
Castiel had heard that before too. He was trying to think of a way to gather the laundry and make his way back to his mother without engaging the young Beta.  
Balthazar settled next to him on the river bank, paying no mind to the mud coating his britches. The older pup leaned his head down a bit to catch the Omega's eyes.  
"You are so beautiful. There's not another wolf in the world with those blue eyes."  
Castiel lifted his head, gazing over Balthazar's shoulders to see what other pups had followed him.  
Nothing there but wind blown leaves and a wayward bird.  
"Pack's talking about you. Said you'll present any day now. I want to ask your mother for permission to mate you."  
That statement finally brought Castiel's gaze to the young were's face. After a few deliberate swallows, he found his voice.  
"W-what?"  
Balthazar smiled sadly at him, "You would be a perfect mate...but my father said you would only birth small, sickly pup like yourself."  
Cas nodded in agreement, he had never considered mating before. After all, what wolf in their right mind would bond with such a pathetic Omega?  
"But, I think, if we were to mate in secret, the pack would have to accept it. It would be too late to stop my claim and then you would belong to me."  
Balthazar said this with a smile, certain his plan was perfect.  
"But...Chuck... and-and the pack may banish you for disobeying. My mother said that would happen to me if I made trouble."  
'Made trouble' was a term for sticking up for himself, fighting back or asking a better class of wolves for their help. It was that possibility that kept him quiet, submissive and obedient.  
"No...Chuck and my father are good friends. He wouldn't be happy but we'd stay with our pack."  
Balthazar was moving closer now, reaching out slowly to touch Castiel's face. The Omega flinched.  
"Not going to hurt you. Would never hurt you."  
That's when the younger pup searched his memories of the name-calling and abuse he had suffered.  
The Beta was right.  
Balthazar was never in the group of weres that circled him. He never heard the Beta's voice chanting foul language or laying so much as a hand on him.  
Cas looked in to the older pup's sky blue eyes, blinking a few times before offering the faintest of smiles.  
The Beta leaned closer, pressing his lips softly...so very softly to Castiel's.  
"What the fuck?!" Came a deep voice from behind Balthazar.  
Bartholomew, the Beta's father stood red-faced, hands clenched in fists by his side as he strolled angrily towards his son.  
The older pup stood quickly, Castiel too scared and shocked to move from the ground.  
"Dad..."  
Balthazar's father backhanded the Beta hard enough to knock him into the mud. He stood over his son, chest heaving as he spat through clenched teeth.  
"I told you to leave this Omega bitch alone!" Bartholomew turned his attention to Castiel, still sitting silent and still. "Stay away from my son, whore! You try seducing him again and I'll snap your neck, got it?"  
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the older Beta that he hadn't tried to seduce anyone, that he wasn't a whore and this wasn't his fault.  
But, as always, he said nothing in his defense, simply nodding at Bartholomew with wide, glassy eyes.  
Balthazar had struggled to his feet, a dark bruise already forming on his cheek.  
"You don't understand..."  
"Stop! You're turning 17 next month and you will mate Hannah as planned. If I so much as see you glance at this abomination, I'll kill him on principle."  
With that, Bartholomew gripped his son back the back of his neck, half pulling, half dragging him away.  
Castiel stayed by the water long after he had finished the laundry.  
The only person to ever show him and ounce of kindness besides his mother was hurt for it.  
When the Omega made his way back to his pack, other weres whispered and glared at him. He reached the tent he shared with Naomi to find Chuck bellowing at her.  
"You keep that bitch in line. I won't have him trapping a wolf in to mating or reproducing another pathetic burden. Do you understand?"  
"I understand that Castiel has made no effort to find a mate. I understand that Balthazar was at fault for his father's rage, not my son. I understand that..."  
She was cut off by the resounding echo of Chuck's hand slapping her across the face.  
Cas entered his tent then, rushing to help his mother sit as her tears trailed down her redden cheek.  
"Enough! I'll not argue with a lesser wolf. Keep him under control or you'll both be banished."  
The Head Alpha stomped out, leaving Castiel to comfort his mother.  
"I'm sorry, Momma. I didn't mean..."  
"I know, sweet pup. You're maturing and wolves are going to start looking at you differently. It's better if you're not alone anymore. We'll stay together, I'll keep you safe." 

The Omega didn't go in to heat for another year.  
During that time, Naomi remained close to her son whenever he left their tent. The whispers and dirty looks continued but no one tried to hurt him anymore.  
Balthazar had mated Hannah as promised and hadn't looked at Castiel since.  
It was dark, middle of the night, when the Omega woke up soaked in sweat, britches damp and hotter than he could ever remember being.  
At first, he was sure he had caught a winter fever again. The air outside had turned cold just days before and Castiel's health always suffered this time of year.  
Naomi woke just a few minutes later, inhaling deeply through her nose a few times before shooting up.  
"Pup? Pup, you're in heat. We have to get you as far away from camp as possible. Can you stand sweetheart?"  
Cas nodded; struggled to his feet as his mother rushed around the tent, gathering clothing and rolling up their bedding.  
The Omega stood, shaking somewhere between burning up from fever and freezing from the night air when his mother expertly broke down their tent, bundling it together with their belongings and ushering Castiel further into the woods.  
Slick flowed endlessly from his hole, dripping down his legs before turning chilly in the frosted air. The sudden abdominal cramps doubled him over several times, the pain causing him to limp sluggishly behind his mother.  
There was a pounding in his head, he could feel heat radiating off of him, turning to fog in the winter cold.  
A mile out, Naomi found a clearing, declaring it safe to set up camp. The Beta erected their tent, piling their belongings inside before turning to coax Castiel in.  
The Omega was near delirium. He couldn't concentrate on anything other than the fire covering his body, the uncomfortable dripping of slick down his thighs and an indescribable ache of emptiness throughout his entire being.  
"You need to lay down, pup. I'll find water, don't worry, I'll be right back."  
Water.  
Water would be good.  
Water would be heaven itself.  
Cas never doubted his mother before but he believed he must be dying, not readying himself to breed life. It was heat and pain and confusion and...  
There was a loud, savage growl outside, followed by a similar feral howl that Castiel recognized as Naomi's.  
The Omega crawled to the tent's entrance, rolling out on to the icey dirt floor.  
His mother's deep brown wolf was battling a much larger white one.  
Naomi's elongated fangs aimed for the were's throat at every turn, the rogue scenting strongly of 'Alpha' and what Castiel would later determine to be arousal. The Alpha was bigger, stronger and eventually, he had the Beta wolf belly up, her throat clearly exposed.  
Cas's mouth opened wide but his screams were silent. The begging and pleading for his mother's life came out as chokes and sobs.  
The Alpha wolf stopped, sniffing the air before turning red eyes towards the Omega. Naomi dared to growl again, warning the rogue away from her pup before turning to her stomach and pushing herself to stand.  
There was no hesitation this time, no moment of mercy, the ivory colored wolf gripped the nape of the Beta wolf's neck between his jaws, flinging her effortlessly against the nearest tree. 

 

A sickening cracking sound echoed through the otherwise empty woods. Blood flowed rivers from her nose and mouth, her eyes wide with the pain and fear.


	2. Heat

The Omega gathered all his energy, steeling himself against the onslaught of aching heat to stand and stumble towards his mother's limp body, only to be intercepted by the Alpha halfway there.     
Red eyes narrowed in on Castiel, predatory and dangerous.  The great white wolf growled low, charging the pup; knocking him on his back before scenting his neck deeply.     
Something about the Alpha's smell both soothed and agitated the Omega's heat.  Cas's inner wolf begged to submit as the were part of his brain attempted to process both his injured mother and his own fragile state.     
Razor sharp claws cut through Castiel's clothing, leaving a trail of lightly bleeding scratches over the pup's body.  All he could do was lay still as his eyes morphed Omega gold, the needs of his heat overwhelmed the fear of death.     
Naked in freezing soil, moon barely peeking between tree branches, he watched the Alpha rear back and begin to shift. The breaking and reconnecting of bones, white fur retracting in to pale skin, claws turned to fingernails, fangs to teeth until everything in front of the Omega appeared human.   

Lucifer    
   
Chuck's second Alpha son, he and Castiel shared a mother.  A mother who lay motionless just a few yards away.  A mother he had killed to get to his Omega brother in heat.     
The younger were opened his mouth to speak only to have Lucifer press a strong hand over his lips.     
"Quiet, bitch." The Alpha hissed, "Keep still and do what the gods created you for."     
Without another word or warning, Lucifer pushed his red, dripping cock in to Castiel's hole.  The pain the Omega had expected didn't come. His body produced more slick with the presence of an unmated Alpha. The guilt he felt when his hips jerked upwards, pushing himself deeper, eclipsed the tremendous sense of relief.  The Omega's body finally found what it was craving.     
Lucifer had to release his mouth or risk falling on to the pup, balancing his palms on either side of the Omega's head.     
Something more than relief flowed over Cas's body as the older were's cock pressed deep inside him, hitting an unfamiliar spot that went straight to his small Omega dick, already dripping precum on his stomach. Lucifer's breath panted warm against Castiel's neck, his Alpha scent calming some of the fever and pain but it wasn't enough. He needed more...     
Something larger than Lucifer's cock tugged against the rim of Cas's hole.  The same thing growing with each thrust until one aggressive push locked the Alpha inside of the Omega; the older were threw his head back and howled when waves and waves of seed flowed in to Castiel.     
With the knot tying them together, the pulse of Lucifer's come inside him and just enough friction between their stomachs to rub against his member, Cas cried loudly when he painted clear, seedless spunk all the way up to his chest.     
It wasn't until the euphoria of his orgasm lessened that Castiel was able to think clearly once more.  He was horrified.  Not just at Lucifer, who remained locked within him but at himself.  How he could lose control; allow himself to breed with an Alpha? A sibling?  He was everything Chuck said he was.  Every word the other pack members called him.     
A bitch.    
An abomination.     
A whore.     
Naomi never told him about knotting so he wasn't sure how long he had to lay in the dirt with his brother's cock locked inside him.  Without a way to escape Castiel covered his face with his hands and sobbed quietly.      
Lucifer continued to grunt and moan each time another orgasm hit, another wave of come pushing into the Omega.     
"Fuck..." The Alpha panted, "Omegas are so much better than Betas.  I had no idea."     
Cas wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond to that so he stayed hidden behind his hands, trying to hear breathing or movement from the direction of his mother.     
Lucifer continued to talk filth, Castiel continued to cry until his brother's knot deflated enough for them to move.  The Alpha gave Cas a hateful smirk before shifting to his wolf; trotting back into the trees.     
The pup fought his way to his feet again, tripping over tattered clothes to reach his mother.     
Naomi's chest no longer moved, her eyes locked open, pupils blown, seeing nothing.  Cas lay his head to her chest praying for a heartbeat.   

Silence.   

His mother, his best friend, the only being in the world who could ever love him, gone. She was dead and it was his fault.  The Beta had tried to fight off an Alpha twice her size.  She died trying to keep her pup safe and he allowed himself to be taken just a short distance from where she took her last breath.     
Castiel had thought he was in pain before, that his heat felt like death.     
He was wrong.     
The agony in his heart was unbearable.     
His very soul was ripped apart and screams that escaped his lips surely traveled all the way to Odin.     
The pup shifted to his wolf, ignoring the soreness that seeped through him, and nosed his way between Naomi's front legs, cuddling up to his mother, his 'momma', his entire world.     
The Beta's body was starting to cool, her spirit gone but Castiel didn't want to be anywhere else.  His ebony wolf pressed tightly against Naomi's motionless chocolate one.     
Castiel didn't realize he had fallen asleep, cuddled close to his mother's fur, until he was awoken to the growl of another Alpha wolf. The Omega's heat slammed back in full force.  He could only whimper and whine when strong jaws gripped the nape of his neck tightly; tugging him away from Naomi's body.  Cas found himself pushed snout first in the dirt; struggling to turn his head in order to breathe.  The Alpha mounted him in wolf form, Castiel's body accepting the stranger's cock easily.  The Omega's hole leaking slick and come; tender and red.     
Was this how all Omega's spent their heats?  Constantly raped by unmated Alphas?  Wasn't he supposed to be mated when he was breed?  All these questions faded to the back of his mind as his heat soothed beneath the aggressive thrusting of the larger wolf. Castiel came again, yiping in shame.  The grey wolf followed moments later; his howls echoing through the woods as he tied himself to the defeated Omega.     
The Alpha lay heavy on Cas's back, growling whenever the smaller wolf made the slightest of movements.  At least this Alpha had remained in his wolf form so the Omega didn't have to listen to foul words as he had to with Lucifer.     
When they untied, the gray wolf gave him something close to a sympathetic whimper before disappearing as quietly has he arrived.      
Castiel didn't know how long he lay there freezing and filthy before the next unmated Alpha approached.    
   
For three days Cas lost count of how many Alphas came to the clearing, he had no idea how many times he was raped, only that each encounter soothed his heat as it broke his heart.    
The Omega hadn't had anything to eat or drink, his body covered in a disgusting layer of slick, come, dirt and blood.  Naomi's wolf always within his sight, her body rotting in to the roots of the tree.     
   
Castiel jerked himself awake, the sun telling him it was late afternoon and he was finally alone.  He no longer felt hot, no aching inside him.  His heat had ended.    
He was cold, colder than he could ever remember being.  Trying to avoid looking at his mother's body, he stiffly searched through their tent for a blanket, wrapping himself tightly.  Dropping his head back, Castiel inhaled deliberately several times until he was able to scent water.    
Shuffling through fallen branches and dead leaves the Omega found a pond fed by the same creek his pack used. Without thought of consequences, Cas dropped his blanket on the bank and threw himself in to the icey water.    
A scream tore from his throat.  His very skin freezing over as he gave his best attempt at cleaning himself. When he found an Alpha's seed in his hair, self-pitying sobs finally broke free as he cursed his pack, his gender and Odin himself.    
Shuffling out of the water, he bundled himself back in to the blanket, working his way slowly to his tent.  Trembling violently, Castiel dressed himself in three sets of his clothing, putting on his own coat and tugging his mother's tan cape over his shoulders.    
The hide still smelled like Naomi and the Omega lost the fight with his tears again.    
With ragged breath and a heavy heart, Castiel weakly gathered any sticks and branches he could carry, arranging them in the middle of the clearing.    
When he had produced a table-like structure Cas closed his eyes and took a deep breath before walking over to Naomi's body.    
The Beta's body, long ago frozen with frost and decay, was heavier than the Omega had expected.  It took Castiel a full hour to maneuver his mother's wolf from her place under the tree to the top of her funeral pyre.    
Rapid friction of dry stones on dead leaves and Cas set fire to the wood.    
Thick smoke wafted from Naomi's wolf up to the heavens with the hope her spirit would find peace in the afterlife.  That Odin wouldn't punish the Beta for loving her pathetic son so much. Cas sat with his legs tucked to his chest, head resting on his knees in the corner of the tent, debating on sleeping or searching for food when the scent of another unmated Alpha filled his nose.  

The Omega would welcome death before being bred again.   
   
Michael poked his head through the entrance of Castiel's tent, no hint of arousal scent on him.    
"Castiel?"    
The pup looked up Chuck's oldest son, eyes dazed and filled with fear.    
Moving further into the structure, Michael held his hands up, palms out.    
"Didn't come to hurt you, Omega.  I...uh...heard what happened from some of our packmates.  I just wanted to make sure you were alright.  Can I help you back to camp?"    
"My mother...he killed her. Lucifer...he..." the pup choked out.    
The Alpha's eyes widened, peeking out of the tent at the smoldering funeral pyre.    
"I didn't know, Castiel." The older were whispered, uncharacteristic tears trailing down his face.    
Naomi had been his mother too.  Although Chuck kept his three older pups away from the Beta, Naomi had given Michael life.     
"I'll pack up your things" the Alpha began moving around Cas's shelter, "Get you back to camp where it's safer."    
"It's not safer." Castiel argued quietly, "They hate me and now...now I'm completely alone."    
Michael shook his head, "We'll set your tent up close to mine, I can make sure no one bothers you."    
"What about Chuck?"    
The Alpha sighed, "My father won't be leading our pack much longer.  He's ill.  I'll be Head Alpha soon and no one will ever touch your again."   
    
Michael sounded so sure, so sincere and Cas...   
   
Cas just needed to believe.


	3. Alone

As Castiel re-entered the Messenger Pack's campsite behind Michael, he felt crushed by the tension in the air. It was unusually quiet and the Omega could sense every wolf's eyes on him.  Some were sympathetic, the unmated Alphas that had snuck out to the clearing glared at him angrily.    
As if he were at fault for the shame they had brought to their pack.    
Cas hadn't stopped trembling since following Michael through the woods.  His entire body shivered uncontrollably, dehydration, hunger and fatigue consumed him.    
His oldest brother quickly erected the tent directly behind his own.  Coaxing the Omega in with the promise of food and water, Michael left only to be intercepted by his father.    
"You brought that curse back upon us?" Chuck spat.    
"That curse is a member of our pack.  I've stood by for years, watching the Messenger wolves mistreat a weaker pup.  Our mother is dead, he's been abused by his own pack members in an unspeakable way.  Yes, he'll be living right here, by me.  It's that or I rip out the throat of every Alpha who dared attack an Omega in heat."    
Castiel sat in silence, listening closely to the argument outside and finding the smallest of grins spread across his face when Chuck was rendered speechless.    
   
Over the next week, Cas was too tired to leave his tent other than to relieve himself.  Michael brought him food and water faithfully, finally bringing Hannah, Balthazar's mate, to check on him.     
She was the only were to volunteer help.    
"He's caught." The Beta whispered to the next Head Alpha.    
"Caught?  Caught winter fever already?"    
"No..." Hannah looked near tears, glancing over her shoulder at the sleeping Omega before clarifying, "He's with pup, Michael.  There's no way to determine who the father is...and Castiel is so small..."    
Castiel's older brother closed his eyes, dropping his head back and exhaling loudly.    
"He'll lose the pup..."    
The sympathetic Beta nodded, "All I can do is try and keep him comfortable, hopefully he won't fall with fever this winter.  I don't think he'd survive without Naomi.  She and Castiel were the only ones to know correct healing herbs."    
   
It was everything Michael could do not to punch his father in the face when Chuck proclaimed he would end Castiel's pregnancy himself if the Omega didn't expel the pup on his own.    
Although is was shameful and wrong, Michael began to wish for the Head Alpha's death.  All the years he followed and obeyed his father, all the years of undue respect for their leader, wasted.    
   
Cas woke up to cramping and blood between his legs, thankfully Hannah helped him clean up but the Omega insisted on holding the tiny being, no bigger than a walnut, in the palm of his hand.  He struggled to dress, pulling his mother's cape over his shoulder before shuffling out of his tent.    
Castiel didn't say a word, dragging himself a mile to the clearing, a concerned Michael shadowing behind him. When the young were reached the ashes of Naomi's funeral pyre, he gently set his offspring in the middle.  His older brother began helping him gather twigs, arranging them in a make-shift manger and setting fire to it.    
The Omega's pup would join his grandmother in the afterlife.    
The trip had taken it's toll on Cas's already fragile body, he still hadn't spoken a word but when he dropped to his knees just outside the Messenger camp, Michael picked him up and carried him. Castiel's oldest brother ignored the stares and gasps of his packmates, nodding at Hannah to follow him back to the Omega's tent.    
   
Just as predicted, Cas fell ill with winter fever.  Chuck had been complaining for weeks that the useless Omega hadn't done anything to contribute to their pack, failing to gather roots and herbs, no longer washing or repairing clothing.    
If not for Michael, Castiel would surely have been banished or killed outright.    
Ten days after his fever began, the Omega woke to complete darkness. Cas blinked and rubbed his eyes several times but saw nothing, endless blackness. He tried shaking his head briskly, splashing water from the bowl Mike left next to the bed for him.    
Nothing.    
It was if the sun had disappeared and left the world in permanent midnight.  Castiel fought back the panic that threatened to overtake him, calling out for Michael, praying the Alpha was nearby.    
Cas's brother rushed in, the Omega hardly talked anymore, let alone ask for help.    
"Castiel?  What is it?"    
The younger were turned his face towards Michael, it was on the tip of his tongue to tell his brother he couldn't see when the were gasped loudly.    
"What...by Odin, Castiel, what happened to your eyes?"    
The orbs were pure white, no pupil or iris to speak of, just... clouds.    
"I can't see you..." Cas choked, crying for the first time since he lost his pup.    
"Stay still, I'll get Hannah."    
The Omega nodded, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging his legs tightly.  A weak; blind; sickly Omega burden, Chuck would kill him for certain.    
Balthazar's mate came, Castiel knew her by her scent.  She spread his eyelids impossible wide, asking Cas to move the pearl orbs as much as he could. And still nothing.    
"The fever...I can only guess it was the fever." Hannah was speaking to Michael behind her, "I don't think...I can't be sure but I don't think he'll regain his sight."    
For a few moments, the Omega entertained the notion that he wanted to die, only to berate himself silently for being such a coward.  Naomi died trying to protect him, his mother brave and proud.  If Castiel should consider suicide, her death would've been in vain.  Surely Odin would punish him greatly for such selfishness.    
Snide comments about Castiel being a burden grew louder the next few days.  The Omega recognized Lucifer's scent when the Alpha boldly entered the younger were's shelter.    
"Michael will not always be here to protect you, bitch."    
Cas wisely remained quiet, waiting for the rest of the insults and threats he knew would follow.    
"No one wants you here.  You mistake our brother's concern for love. Michael feels nothing but pity, as he would for a wounded elder or a limping pup. My father is all that keeps me from putting you out of your misery.  I will end your suffering the moment I become Head Alpha."    
Castiel wanted to tell Lucifer that he would never be Head Alpha, that would be Michael. He ached to bate his brother, entice him to kill him now but that would be no better than suicide.  So the Omega remained quiet, offering a small nod of understanding in hopes of pacifying the Alpha.    
Lucifer left him with a greater amount of self-pity and fear.    
   
A few days after Lucifer's visit, a week after the Omega lost his sight, Castiel ventured out of his tent.  With a clear picture of their camp's lay out in his head, he round his tent to shuffle just inside the forest.  There he knelt by the first tree, inhaling deeply to find the species of plant life before digging around the base of the oak.    
Feeling the roots with his hands; sniffing their aroma, Castiel managed to find several edible growths.  After that, he crawled to the next tree, repeating the action to gather roots that could be made in to healing teas.     
It was the only way he could think to contribute, the only thing he could do while sightless.    
He ignored Chuck's scoffing, instead listening to Michael's praise.    
Castiel thought he may be able to live humbly among his pack, staying out of their way with his oldest brother trying to watch over him as Naomi had.    
   
Just before the first snowfall, the Messenger pack would migrate south.  They were nomads by nature and should've left their campsite weeks ago.     
Michael taught Cas how to pack and unpack his tent blindly. Castiel could bundle his clothes, break down and erect his shelter on his own, making him less of a burden to the rest of the pack.  His oldest brother assured him he would lead him during their travels.    
Two days later the Omega awoke to silence.    
At first Castiel panicked that he had lost his ability to hear as well but the far away chirping of birds and a soft sound of wind against his tent proved him wrong.    
Dressing and exiting his shelter, he heard no other weres.  Their scents were faint and stale, as if they...    
They were gone.    
The Omega's heart raced in his chest.  He was alone, completely alone.  Lifting his nose to the sky, he inhaled deeply.  Even Michael's scent had disappeared.  The Alpha wouldn't have left him behind.  Regardless of what Lucifer told him, he knew his oldest brother cared. He was the only being alive that might love such a pathetic soul.    
Castiel relieved himself, drank the water and ate the deer jerky in his tent and waited.    
Michael would be back.    
   
The Omega believed that until the evening of the third day.  He had been living on roots, crawling his way to the nearby stream to drink and failing in all attempts to build a fire.  Castiel reluctantly accepted that his brother wasn't returning and after a good cry, he took a deep breath and set to work.  He couldn't stay here, the next winter fever he suffered was sure to kill him. No, he needed to move south, somewhere warmer where he might find edible vegetation and avoid freezing to death.    
Cas packed his things just as Michael had taught him, wearing layers of clothes covered by his mother's cape to fight off the ever dropping temperature.  Traveling in his wolf would've been warmer and faster but he couldn't carry his shelter securely on his back as he could in human form.    
Shuffling through the woods, hands out in front to avoid running into trees, something he had learned the hard way, the Omega journeyed with the warmth of the sun on his left in the morning on his right every evening.     
South.    
South where he would survive.  Where he wouldn't fail his mother; to live out his humble existence in order to join her in the afterlife.    
Castiel made sure to drag his feet through the dusting of snow after tripping over branches and rocks several times.  Sure his right ankle was sprained or broken, the joint throbbed with every step, making him take more breaks than he should have.    
When he couldn't scent fresh water, the Omega would eat snow.  He felt himself growing weaker as his only diet consisted of roots and, in desperation, a few pieces of bark. Castiel stopped erecting his shelter after the first week or so. He'd pile all his clothing on top of his pack, spread Naomi's cape and his tent material over it.  After shifting to his wolf, Cas nosed his way under the pile, curling under the weight of his belongings and collecting enough heat to fall into a fitful sleep.    
As the forest grew denser, the ceiling of tree branches blocking out more and more of the sun's warmth, the Omega became confused on the direction he was headed.  While he hoped he still traveled south, there was now a good chance he had drifted off course.    
Castiel scented unfamiliar wolves, indicating he had stepped in to another pack's territory. What he thought was the opposite direction kept him wandering in circles for two days. The air grew colder with each passing minute and snow found it's way through the branches.    
It started with a cough, his throat raw and burning; then a pounding headache in his temples.  The Omega grew weaker with each step, so hungry...so tired.  And when Castiel began sweating under layers of clothes, the young were had to face facts.    
He had caught winter fever once again and, this time, he would surely die.    
   
Morphing to his wolf, he snuggled once again under his mother's cloak and tent material.  Castiel found it harder and harder to breathe, fighting panic and fear that accompanied the certainty of death.    
And when the Omega scented an unfamiliar Alpha coming closer, he prayed to Odin that his death would be quick.  Cas was trespassing on another pack's land, the Alpha was sure to rip out his throat and eat his heart.  It would be agony but merifically faster than freezing, starvation or fever.    
   
Closing his lids over sightless white eyes, Castiel drifted to unconsciousness, making peace with his impending end and dreaming of reuniting with Naomi in the afterlife.  


	4. Alpha

Dean sat at the head of the table, waiting for the bickering and complaining to calm before speaking up.    
The Head Alpha of the Winchester pack met with members of the council monthly.  Although he spoke to all of them regularly, it was sometimes beneficial to have everyone's opinion at one time.    
His younger brother, Sam, sat to his right, brows raised and eyes wide in an attempt to convey impatience.    
To his left, his late father's oldest and dearest friend, Bobby.  A few elder weres, Frank, Rufus and Samuel sat next to him.  Ellen, Benny and Charlie balanced out the other side.    
A fireplace large enough to heat the entire dining hall began to flicker, signaling enough time had been wasted.    
Dean stood, speaking clearly and just loud enough to be heard over the other members of council.    
"I don't want to be here all night.  We have the same discussion each month and nothing has changed."    
"It should change, boy!" Bobby growled, brows furrowed, "You ain't gittin' any younger and ya need to settle on a mate.  Secure the future of our pack."    
Dropping back to his seat, Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, "Sam is mated and Jess is with pup.  Should I die, Sam will be Head Alpha and his offspring will have just as much right to lead this pack as mine would."    
"Sweetheart..." Ellen began, "It's not just a matter of producing the next Head Alpha.  We want nothing more than your happiness.  You're a wonderful, selfless leader but you deserve some peace.  A mate to calm you, take care of you..."    
"I can take care of myself." The Head Alpha sighed, feeling as if he were reading from a script they all performed each month.    
Dean had no desire to mate.  He could have his choice of any unmated Beta in the pack, male or female but would rather patrol their packlands, protect the wolves under his care.  He had no time for a clingy, jealous mate who expected him home every night.    
"I'm 'bout as tired of this bullshit as Dean is" Rufus grumbled, "We settled every other issue this month, let the boy run wild.  He does his damn job and ain't hurtin' nobody by being unmated.  Hell, I'm unmated, look how happy I am."    
Sam, Dean and Benny couldn't contain their chuckles as well as Bobby and Ellen could.  Rufus was the grumpiest old were in the pack.  His argument was invalid to say the least.    
"Ok, everyone." The Head Alpha stood, tugging his coat from the back of his chair to swing it over his shoulders, "We can discuss how I won't be getting mated again next month.  I'm gonna run the out land one more time..."    
"Dean," Sam began, "You've ran it three times today, let me do it, you can head back to your cabin..."    
"No chance, Sammy" his older brother smirked, "you better get home to your pregnant mate before she comes looking for you."    
Sam rolled his eyes, "Jerk."    
Dean simply nodded on his way out the door, "Bitch"    
   
The Head Alpha stopped off at his cabin to undress and shift.  Dean's large caramel colored wolf trotted through the Winchester pack's settlement. Most homes were dark, only the flicker of firelight and the smell of smoke drifting from their chimneys.    
Starting at the east end of his territory, Dean's wolf ran unhurriedly to the southern boarder.  Changing directions westward, he caught the scent of an unknown wolf.    
Trespasser.    
The Alpha's eyes narrowed, red and focused while his nose sniffed the air.    
   
Dean had been patrolling their lands with his father, John, five years ago.  When the pair discovered a trio of feral interlopers, the unknown wolves attacked.  They killed John but left Dean bleeding and unconscious, three deep claw marks raking down the left side of his face.    
No one could blame the young were for being more than a little overzealous when it came to strangers on Winchester land.    
   
The Alpha continued west, the unknown wolf's scent laced with sickness, a sour smelling odor.  As Dean grew closer he thought he detected a slight aroma of...   
Omega.    
Impossible.   
No one in the Winchester pack had even seen an Omega since Dean's mother, Mary, died.  They were too rare, Frank constantly preaching that the gender had become extinct.    
The Alpha slowed his search, inhaling deeply, trying to zero in on the rogue wolf's location.    
What he found in the northwest corner of his packland, was a mound of snow reeking of illness and fear.    
Using his front paws, Dean's wolf dug through the small hill, uncovering layers of cloth; ripping that away with a sharp fangs and an angry growl.    
There, rolled up into a ball, was a small black wolf.  If the Alpha hadn't seen the slight movement on the pup's chest he would've thought the poor thing was dead.    
The sour scent of illness filled his sinuses, causing Dean to gag.  But under that stench was still the aroma of 'Omega'.  The sweetness of it almost completely muted by the wolf's sickness.    
Without another thought, Dean locked his jaws at the nape of the pup's neck and carried him inland. Trying to hurry but be careful with the limp and lifeless Omega, the Alpha trotted through their settlement until he reached his cabin, laying the strange wolf in front of the fireplace.  He shifted quickly; dressed and ran barefoot to Ellen's cabin.    
Bursting through the door without knocking, he was rewarded with a punch to his nose.    
"By Odin, Dean!" Jo, Ellen's daughter cried, "You scared the life outta me!"    
Pinching the bridge of his nose shut in an attempt to slow the bleeding, the Alpha skipped his apology, "Where's Ellen?"    
Ellen appeared from her bedroom, thick robe tied around her waist. "Dean?  What's wrong?"    
"I found...I found a pup, I thinks he's dying, Ellen."    
The older were's eyes widened and she headed out the door to follow Dean without a thought to the weather or her clothing.    
   
The pair entered the Alpha's home, Dean pointed at the small black wolf in front of the fire.  Ellen dropped beside the pup, holding her palm to his chest.    
"Heart beats weak..." She began, "Breathings real shallow, little thing's burning up.  Winter fever, I'm almost positive."    
The words 'winter fever' always struck a fear within Dean.  His mother had died from the illness when he was only four.    
"What can we do?" The Alpha's voice just above a whisper.    
"Well, I'll try and get some tea down his throat.  Bobby should have the right herbs.  Run down there and wake the old grump up, I'll boil water.  Where's your spare blankets?  We gotta get this little guy covered."    
Dean pointed to his bedroom, slipping on his boots before sprinting through the snow.  He took time to knock, waking the older were up.  Bobby not only gave him ingredients, he insisted on tailing Dean back.    
By the time the duo stomped their boots off in Dean's doorway, Ellen had the kettle heating over the fireplace.  The unknown Omega bundled in the thick quilt the Alpha kept on his bed.    
The Winchester pack's healer mixed the concoction as she rattled off what she knew.    
"He's probably no older than 13...maybe 14.  Half starved, dehydrated, feverish and I think his left rear paw is broken." Pausing a moment to lift one of the pup's eyelids, she looked up at the Alphas "And he's blind. I don't know what kind of pack would leave a sick; blind Omega pup alone in winter but it's a miracle this poor thing ain't dead."    
Dean felt a fury grow within him, he watched out for every single member of the Winchester pack, as Head Alpha, he couldn't imagine deserting any pup, let alone a blind Omega.    
"Reel it in, boy." Bobby's voice in a low growl, "Omega's are real sensitive to scent.  He catches your anger stinking up the place and he'll think you're mad at him.  Calm down or go sleep in my cabin."    
Dean nodded, taking in a few deep breaths before dropping down next to the pup.  Running his fingers lightly through dirty black fur he could feel the heat pouring from the skin underneath. And while the scent of illness remained, it wasn't nearly as strong as before.  An aroma of 'Omega' fought it's way through.    
Ellen had started spooning warm herbal tea into the black wolf's mouth, tipping his head back and rubbing his throat to make sure he swallowed.   

There was something about this pup, this Omega, Dean feeling a sense of protectiveness that even eclipsed the need to guard his pack.    
This...this was what the Alpha had been missing. This illogical connection to a trespassing wolf.  A blind, weak, sick and possibly dying Omega.  It made no sense unless you believed the fairy tales Frank spouted around the bonfire.  True mates...   
"He can't die Ellen" Dean spoke unusually soft, "He's my mate."    
The pack's Beta healer and oldest Alpha exchanged surprised glances.    
"Ya said ya'd never mate, boy.  This pup's a stranger, we don't know where he came from."    
   
"Doesn't matter, Bobby." The Alpha never taking his eyes off the ball of onyx fur, "I just know..." 


	5. Dean

Castiel was delightfully warm. Not burning up with fever, not freezing in the snow.  So comfortable; so content...   
He must've died.  This was the afterlife; he'd never hurt again.    
But there was still an ache throughout his body, his rear paw held a burning throb and when he opened his eyes, the darkness continued to haunt him.    
Surely Odin would've given his sight back, or at least, taken away his pain.    
No, the Omega lived, struggling to accept that his suffering wasn't over quite yet. Moving wasn't an option, when Cas tried his muscles promptly locked up on him.  That put shifting out of the question as well.    
Castiel took a few deep breaths and was gifted with a sharp pain in his ribs. He could smell Alpha.  Unmated...the same scent in his nose before he had drifted off before.    
An aroma of burning wood, just a touch of Beta and a hint of a healing tea he knew well. A flash of his mother grinding the ingredients as she tutored her pup on the benefits of each herb or root. That brought tears back to his eyes.  He had been so close, so very close to seeing Naomi again.    
With that thought in mind, the Omega floated back to sleep.    
   
Sometime later, Castiel fought his way back to the real world.  The fragrance of Beta was much thicker now, he listened to a log cracking in a fire, soft breathing of a were near him.    
"Hello, little guy. Thought we lost ya there." Came a kind female voice.    
The Omega could only muster up enough energy to whimper in response.  A heartbeat later he felt a warm spoon on his tongue, hot bitter tea trickling down his throat.  He swallowed eagerly, just realizing how incredibly thirty he was.    
Castiel continued to drink the concoction as the Beta spoke softly, sometimes stroking his fur.    
"You're with the Winchester Pack.  Our Head Alpha found you on the outskirts of our territory.  Seems you've been on your own for awhile.  Thank Odin your fever broke after the first five days.  Don't think you'll be strong enough to shift just yet."    
Cas summoned another quiet noise, indicating he heard her.  No one but Naomi and Michael had ever been this kind to him.  The Omega silently gave thanks to Odin for delivering him from his hateful pack.  Although he had been ready to accept his death, he would make himself grateful.    
The creak of a door opening, a icey breeze and the scent of Alpha followed a moment later.  The door slammed, heavy breathing and the stomp of boots came next.    
"He's awake Dean."    
Castiel recognized this Alpha's scent from before although he no longer smelled angry.    
Crashing of wood on wood, creaks across the floor and a slight wave of the air moving around him and the Omega realized the Alpha, the Beta had called him Dean, was sitting next to him. A moment later cold fingers ran through his fur, surprisingly gentle, almost...reverent.    
"How ya feeling, Omega-mine?"    
"He can't answer ya, Dean."    
"I know, but I still need to talk to him, Ellen"    
Cas heard the Beta sigh even as he pushed himself slightly closer to the Alpha's hand.  Something about his aroma; his touch... and the were had called the pup 'his' Omega. There was no hint of anger or lust in Dean's scent.     
"Try drinking more, pup" the Beta, 'Ellen', spooning more tea in to his mouth.    
"Shouldn't he be eating?  Shifting?"    
"He's been without solid food for more than a few weeks, I think it's best to keep liquids down his throat.  He'll need a couple more days to get stronger before changing from his wolf.  You'll just have to be patient."    
Castiel mourned the loss of the Alpha's hand which was soon replaced by a slight pressure beneath his ear.  The sound of Dean inhaling deeply and the Omega realized he was being scented.    
"You smell healthier, Omega-mine.  We're gonna take good care of you."    
The Alpha's voice was so sincere, so comforting and Cas thought maybe he had died, drifting in the afterlife with these kind weres as his reward.    
   
The next few days consisted of an ever-flowing amount of water, tea and broth spooned into his system.  Of course this resulted in an equal amount  vacating his body on the blankets he rested on. Castiel's wolf couldn't express the humiliation but Ellen and Dean would clean up after him without fuss.   
A few more weres came and went from the cabin. An older Alpha, called Bobby and a younger one named Sam. From what Cas could understand from their conversations, Sam was Dean's brother.    
The Omega spent his days bundled on the heavenly soft surface of Dean's bed.  At night the Alpha shifted, gently carrying the pup by the nape of his neck to sleep in front of the fireplace with him.  Dean wrapped his light brown wolf around Castiel's ebony one and they rested comfortably until morning.    
Cas couldn't help but second guess Dean's motives occasionally, he was an unmated Alpha and they couldn't be trusted. He thought he was imagining the Alpha's scent and the addicting connection he felt for a stranger.    
But, for now, he would swim in the river that was Dean.    
   
It was hard to keep track of the days, living in darkness, but Castiel grew stronger all the time.  His wolf able to wobble clumsily around Dean's cabin, only running into a wall or a chair occasionally.  Ellen graduated him to real food, deer stew thick with potatoes.    
The Head Alpha checked on him throughout the day, slept with him at night and seemed to talk constantly.  Cas knew about Dean's parents, his brother, his recently born nephew.  The Omega could tell you the name and duties of each packmate.  

After his midday meal one afternoon, the Omega stretched, took a deep breath and attempted to shift.  Castiel surprised himself when he was able to push through the change and stand, once again, in human form. His legs felt foreign and weak, he could only guess that he'd been in his wolf for more than a month.    
Now he was naked and cold.  Tugging a quilt from Dean's bed, he worked his way slowly to the fireplace in the next room.  His wolf had determined the placement of furniture and walls so Castiel was able to settle himself on the rug by the hearth, bundle himself in the blanket and enjoy the soft warmth on his skin.    
Dean crashed through the door, the Alpha never seemed to be able to enter or exit the cabin quietly, stomping the snow off his boots and dropping whatever he was carrying. All those noises were suddenly silenced and only Dean's gasp echoed through the room.    
"You...you shifted!"    
The were spoke as if it was a miracle within itself.  Cas listened to the rustle of fabric and determined Dean had struggled out of his coat when the Alpha dropped down beside him, bringing a chill.    
"By Odin, Omega-mine...you...you are the single most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Dean whispered. Castiel turned his face towards the sound of the Alpha's voice but couldn't stop a sharp flinch as cold fingertips traced his jaw.     
"What's my mate's name?" Dean asked and the Omega could hear a smile lacing the question.    
A few hard swallows, his voice rough and unused he was able to answer softly.  "Castiel"    
"Castiel...I've never heard that one before.  It's beautiful.  There's....there's so much I want to ask you."    
Cas nodded, "Could I have some water first?"    
The Omega's throat felt as if he had swallowed thorns.    
"Yeah...yeah...I mean, of course.  And some clothes too. Stay there, I'll be right back."    
Castiel couldn't fight the grin that took over his face, 'stay there' as if there were any other place he'd want to be.    
   
Drowning in Dean's britches and tunic; after three cups of water, Cas sat at the table with the Alpha.     
"I still can't get over how breathtaking you are."    
Castiel blushed, bowing his head a bit and fingers fiddling on his lap.    
"How old are you?"    
"13."    
"By Odin!  What the hell were you doing out there alone?"    
Cas chewed on his bottom lip for a second, "I was trying to head south, find someplace warm to settle."    
"On your own?" Each question held a trace of both concern and anger.    
"I fall ill easily, my mother died and I lost my sight.  I believe my pack felt I was a burden and chose to leave me behind."    
The Omega listened as the Alpha stood, pacing the room and mumbling nonsense about ripping an entire pack to shreds with only his claws.    
"Thank you." Castiel, managing to interrupt Dean's tyrade. "You saved my life."    
Cas heard the older were return to the table, this time sitting next to him and laying a warm hand on his knee.    
"You're welcome, Omega-mine.  I thank Odin daily that you survived and are with me."    
"Omega-mine?"    
"I want to take you as my mate, when you're old enough to breed that is.  Until then, you'll stay here with me, safe."    
'old enough to breed'  those words echoed through Castiel's head and he decided he had to be honest with this were, the Alpha who would quickly change his mind upon hearing Cas's story.    
"I'm...I'm afraid I've been dishonored.  And..." The Omega gulped, "have already been bred."    
"But, you're unmated." Dean sounded confused, as if the idea itself was an impossible, "you're so small and too young..." The Alpha's voice trailed off as his brain finally wrapped itself around Castiel's words.     
The stench of Alpha rage quickly clogged the air, Cas stumbled from his chair, moving away until his back hit the wall behind him.  He listened as Dean throw something heavy across the room and stomped from the cabin.  

Now the Alpha would realize the mistake he had made.  The best Castiel could hope for was that he would allow him to remain with the Winchester pack, maybe escort him from their territory.  At worst Dean may kill him for being the pathetic whore Chuck always knew him to be.


	6. New Beginning

Dean stomped angrily through the snow, he hadn't even taken the time to lace his boots.  Finding his way to Ellen's cabin he knocked loudly on her door.    
The Beta healer answered quickly, "Dean, damn boy, I thought you were gonna take my door of the hinges. What's gotten into you?" Ellen took a step back to invite the Alpha in.    
"He shifted" Dean panted, "His name is Castiel.  He's thirteen, his pack deserted him when his mom died and he's already been bred."    
All these words came out in hurried rage, the Alpha's teeth clenched, fist locked tightly at his sides.    
"He's not with pup, Dean." Brows furrowed the Beta reached for her coat.    
"No...I'm sure the pup wouldn't have survived out there." Dean agreed, his rage morphing to sadness, Ellen thankful for the change in scent. "He's too little, Ellen.  Too young and...what kind of pack...what kind of fucking weres are these?"    
"I've never heard of such cruelty.  I'm going to go check on him, you coming with?"    
"No...I need a minute.  I think I scared him.  I’m gonna find Bobby, see if he knows what pack this is."    
"What good would that do?" Ellen following the Alpha out her door.    
"I'm gonna kill 'em.  Slaughter them all..." Dean muttered, kicking through the snow in the opposite direction.    
The Beta healer shook her head, pulled her coat tighter against her throat, heading towards Dean's cabin.     
   
What she found when she got there was a small pup with coal black hair and the scent of fear.  The Omega, Dean said his name was Casty-something, had worked himself in to a ball in the corner of the Alpha's bedroom.    
"Hey little guy.  Do you recognize my voice?"    
The pup nodded, raising his head to face towards the Beta.    
"Mind if I look you over? "  
"No ma'am, I don't mind.  Do you...do you know if my belongings were found?  I'll need them when I leave."    
"Leave?" Ellen crouched down next to Cas, "Sweetheart, why would you want to leave?"    
"Dean...the Alpha is very angry that I have been...used." The Omega seemed to choke on the word, a single tear trailing down his cheek.    
"No...no pup, he's not mad at you.  Not at all. He's enraged that you would have been treated so terribly by your pack.  Dean's wolf is screaming at him to protect and provide for you, thinking that you've been hurt in the past upset him."    
Ellen read the confusion on the pup's face.  Settling herself next to him on the floor, the Beta leaned back against the wall and carefully took the Omega's hand.    
"What happened to you isn't normal, it isn't right.  Dean plans to mate you, make you the Honored Omega of our pack.  He's a good were, a good leader."    
The Beta helped Cas to his feet, guiding him back to the living room rug to check the healing of his ankle, now that he was in human form; the bone in a different position.    
   
Dean was pacing back and forth in Bobby's den, the older Alpha watched him, sipping a glass of grain alcohol.    
"You're looking at it wrong, boy. You'll never gonna find that pack but you gotta Omega in your cabin that's safe and alive because of you."    
The Head Alpha paused, dropping his head back with a sigh. "I know Bobby, I'm just so...so..."    
"You're pissed off and I bet your Omega gotta real big sniff of that before you left 'em, huh?"    
Dean closed his eyes, exhaling loudly, "Yeah, Bobby.  Ellen's over there now."    
"I done warned ya about your scent, boy.  Ya keep your temper under control or ya gonna make that pup all kinds of skittish."    
Of course Bobby was right, he was almost always right.  Dean decided to check on his nephew, deal with a few more pack issues so he could be completely calm before returning to his intended mate.    
   
Ellen declared the pup healthy, confirmed his name was Castiel, not Casty-something and mixed a calming tea for him to sip by the fire.  The Omega smiled, listing the ingredients of his drink and suggesting she add a different root next time.    
To say the Beta healer was impressed was an understatement.    
"Who taught ya herbal remedies?"    
Castiel grin widened, head tilting a bit, "My mother.  She was a very smart woman."    
"She'd be real proud of ya, pup.  Surviving like you did, she raised ya up strong."    
A few tears left his clouded eyes, "I truly hope that's true, Miss Ellen."    
"Oh no, no 'Miss', just Ellen is more than fine.  Now that you're better, I'll send my Jo over to keep you company until your Alpha gets back."    
"I'll be alright alone.  Shifting wore me out a bit.  Think I'll take a nap, if you don't mind."    
Ellen led Castiel back to Dean's bed, tucked him in sweetly and whispered, "Everything's gonna be alright, little guy."    
   
The Omega was asleep by the time Dean returned to his cabin.  The Alpha sat next to the pup on the bed, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath.  The older were found Castiel's scent of contentment soothing and had completely calmed down before Cas woke up.    
"Hey, Omega-mine."    
"Hello Dean."    
"I'm sorry I scared you.  Feeling better?"    
"Yes, much.  Ellen is very kind."    
"Yeah...she is."    
Castiel allowed Dean to lead him to the table once again, the couple ate dinner in near silence.  As the sun went down and the air grew colder, the pair settled in front of the fireplace sharing a blanket.  

The Omega told the older were about growing up in his pack.  Disowned by his father; protected by his mother, raped by his own brother and every other unmated Alpha. He talked about how easily he fell ill, how he lost his mother, lost his sight and lost his tiny pup.    
Dean made a valiant effort to keep his scent calm, even as Castiel spoke of waking up deserted by his pack.     
The Alpha related his life story as well.  The death of his mother, death of his father, scarring on his face.  Becoming the leader of the Winchester Pack at a young age.  He spoke proudly of his brother, Sam and of Ellen and Bobby, how they were surrogate parents to almost the entire pack.    
Cas was nervous about morphing to his wolf to sleep.    
"What if I can't shift back?"    
"Then my wolf will stay with you until you can."    
Dean's kiss to the Omega's forehead was soft and reverent, both weres shifting to cuddle by the hearth.  The combined odor of happy Alpha and Omega filled the cabin.    
   
The Head Alpha explained to Castiel the next day that he would not mate him until his next birthday.  The Omega wouldn't turn fourteen until fall but Dean couldn't bring himself to claim Cas now.  Although the pup's body was able to breed, Castiel had been through too much.  He needed more time to heal and not just physically.    
Cas continued to live with his intended mate, helping Ellen mix herbs, reciting properties of roots to Bobby to record.  Jessica visited with Henry, Sam's pup and Jo kept him company when Dean had to leave him alone longer than usual.    
The Omega spent his heats with Ellen and Jo in their cabin.  It took several months before he could believe no unmated Alphas were going to attack him.  That he was safe, protected and...loved.    
   
Dean adored Castiel.  When the weather warmed and he was able to take the pup out without fear of catching ill; the Winchester Pack adored the Omega as well.  They were blessed, a long awaited mate for their strong Head Alpha was a good omen.  
Summer came, Dean taught his intended mate to swim, how to navigate the nearby woods by smell and sound.  Castiel was braver, stronger and more sure of himself with the love and patience of his Alpha.  

The leaves had just began to turn colors, Dean describing the shades to Castiel as the Omega held his hand.  A scent wafted through the air, causing the pup to freeze in place.    
"Cas?  Omega-mine, what's wrong?"    
The Alpha watched the Omega's expression slip from confusion to one of terror.  Peppery fear came from Castiel for the first time in months.    
"A trespassing wolf?"    
"I received a message a few weeks ago, another pack requesting to meet.  They want to find mates outside their bloodline. Maybe they've arrived.  You have nothing to fear, sweetheart."    
Something in the Omega's face told Dean that he didn't believe him.  Deciding to bring Cas with him to meet the weres in the dining hall, the Alpha tugged him lightly in to the shelter.    
There stood a Head Alpha with several of his packmates.  Dean reached forward to shake the were's hand, never releasing his hold on Castiel.    
"Lucifer..." Came Cas's soft, frightened voice.    
"You know him, Omega-Mine?"    
"Of course he does." Interrupted the tall blonde, "We're brothers.  Looks as if our packs have already been joined."    
"Brother?" Dean raised his brow, anger already lacing his scent, "A brother that left him alone to die?"    
"No, that's ridiculous.  Our poor blind Omega simply got lost.  We searched outside your territory for weeks.  I had no idea he had crossed the border, we all mourned his death."    
Castiel's fear was thick, clogging the Winchester Alpha's sinuses and making him sick to his stomach.    
"Bobby, would you please take our Honored Omega to my cabin?"   
Members of his own pack noticed the exaggerated way Dean had given Cas the title even though they had yet to mate.    
When he was sure Castiel was out of earshot, the Alpha allowed his rage to surface, drowning out the residual stench of Omega fear.  Dean walked deliberately towards Cas's brother until they were nose to nose.    
"Lucifer?  That's your name?"    
The blonde nodded, smirk clear on his face.  

   
"Lucifer.  The Alpha that killed his own mother?  The one who raped and terrorized his Omega brother?  This is the leader of your pack?  A coward? Not one Winchester were will mate a Messenger and should I so much as scent one of your wolves in my packlands again, you'll all be slaughtered.  Leave now before while I still have a little self-control."


	7. Crowley

Bobby offered to stay with Castiel once they had arrived at Dean's cabin.  The Omega politely refused; asking him to check on his Alpha instead. Still shaking, Cas lowered himself to Dean's favorite chair, fumbling around for the britches had been mending earlier.  He sewed every stitch by touch, small perfect lines and the chore helped him feel useful.    
Castiel had completed his task and Dean hadn't returned.  The Omega stood at the cabin's open door, scenting for his Alpha and while he didn't smell his intended mate, he did catch a whiff of another familiar were.  

Balthazar.  
    
"Hello Castiel."    
"Balthazar?  Is your pack still here?"    
"Your Head Alpha and a few of his packmates are escorting the rest of us out of their territory."    
"You stayed behind? Why?"    
"To convince you to come with us.  You're not mated yet, you belong with the Messenger Pack."    
Cas sightlessly blinked, his head tilted slightly to the left, brows raised.    
"I have never belonged to the pack.  Where's Michael?"   
"Lucifer told us all that you, Michael and Chuck died from disease, we had to move immediately before it spread.  There were whispers of our Head Alpha killng his brother and father to gain the title."    
"You should go.  It won't take long for Dean to return and he won't be happy you're here."    
Balthazar gripped Castiel's forearm unexpectedly, causing the Omega to gasp and attempt to jerk away.    
"You have to come with me.  He has Hannah, keeping her close until I bring you to him."    
"Hannah was always very kind to me," Cas admitted softly, "But Lucifer will kill me outright and you know this.  I'll talk to Dean; he can help.  He'll track the pack down and..."    
An amazing pain exploded in his right temple followed by complete silence.    
   
The next thing the Omega became aware of was pressure on his stomach and how difficult it was to breathe. Agony of too much blood to his head, something blocking his mouth and he was unable to move his wrists apart.    
Trying to understand what was happening, Castiel wiggled and received a hard slap to his ass in reward.    
"Stay still."    
It was Balthazar's voice but harsher and colder than Cas had ever heard him.    
A few swallows against his gag and he was able to determine he was being carried upside down, over Balthazar's shoulder.  The were was bringing him to Lucifer.    
Castiel swallowed the panic and bile rising in his throat, assuring himself that Dean would find him before it was too late. If his Alpha had escorted the Messenger Pack out of Winchester territory then he would be close by.  It would be impossible for him to miss the stench of fear vaporing off of the Omega.    
So Cas stayed limp, unresisting even has the pressure in his head reached unbearable levels; tears trailing over his temples to escape into ebony hair.    
The Omega must've passed out at one point because the next thing he knew he was being dropped roughly to the ground.    
Lucifer's scent invading his sinuses, making him dizzy with terror.    
"You're supposed to be dead, whore." The Head Alpha growled through clenched teeth.    
The rag in his mouth kept him from answering even if he wanted to.    
Which he didn't.    
A booted foot kicked violently in to his stomach causing him to double over and fight the vomit threatening to choke him.    
"Good thing for you" Lucifer exhaled, "The Pilager Pack is less discriminating about who they align themselves with.  When I first approached them, their Head Alpha, Crowley, was more than disappointed to find our precious Omega had perished.  Now that you have risen from the grave and alienated us from the Winchesters, I'm sure Crowley will be thrilled to find you unmated. A fair trade for mating one of his daughters to me."    
Castiel could do nothing but shake his head.  Dean would come.  His Alpha was surely on his way as Lucifer droned on with his insanity. The Alpha yanked Cas roughly to his feet, spitting his commands in the younger were's face.    
"Shift."  
The Omega remained still, confused and disoriented.    
"I said shift bitch!"    
Castiel couldn't understand why but obeyed.  Dean would come.  He was on his way now; Cas was sure of it. All he had to do was submit, keep Lucifer's anger in check so the were would have no reason to hurt him. Taking a deep breath, the Omega began to morph to his wolf.  Shiny black fur excreted from his newly tanned skin, the gag and wrist bindings fell uselessly on the ground beneath as his bones disconnected only to reform an instant later.    
Cas stood before his brother, preparing himself for the worse.  A heavy rope looped around his neck and he found himself tugged on the make-shift leash.    
"No one's carrying you to Crowley, lazy bitch.  You keep up with the pack or you'll be dragged there."    
The Omega could hear a snear lacing Lucifer's voice.  Castiel would keep pace with the other wolves, he'd push out his scent of fear along with a newly discovered odor.  

Anger.    
   
Cas's wolf was panting with thirst, throat desert-dry and paws scraped and sore from high roots and unseen rocks. His onyx fur rubbed bare around his neck from the constant tugging of the rope-leash.    
A scent of water was heaven itself as he was lead aggressively to it's source.  Castiel lapped hungrily and after the unexpected release from his bindings, he gingerly dipped his bleeding paws into the wonderful, wet coolness.    
It was only a few moments of distraction before the scent of an unknown Alpha teased his nose, followed by a accented voice.    
"Well now, my dear Lucifer.  It would seem you've managed to resurrect the only Omega in existence."    
"I had no idea he would survive alone in winter; stronger than we thought.  Good chance he'll give you healthy pups. He's been with the Winchesters but, as you can see, still unmated."    
Castiel felt a calloused hand on the back of his neck, fingers stroking the hide beneath the fur. This Alpha's touch was much gentler than Lucifer's.  Maybe he could stall Crowley's mating until Dean found him.   
"Shift, little Omega."   
The accent was still unfamiliar but the Alpha's words were soft, non-threatening and although Cas had no desire to stand nake before this were, the fear of Lucifer's anger outweighed the Omega's modesty.    
Castiel morphed back to his human form, skin dusted with dirt, hair in disarray and his hands attempting to cover his small cock.    
"Beautiful..." Crowley breathed, fingers trailing from Cas's cheek down his jaw.  The pup was unable to contain the flinch that followed. "Open your eyes."    
Biting his bottom lip, Castiel forced his lids up to expose cloud-like orbs.    
"Still so beautiful.  Why not mate him yourself, Lucifer?"    
"He's my brother.  We're looking to mate outside our bloodline, inbreeding produces weak, stupid pups."    
Cas could only guess that the other Alpha was nodding.  It was quiet for a moment, the Omega growing nervous with each heartbeat. Suddenly there was a blanket over his shoulders and Castiel instinctively gripped the edges, folding them in over his body.    
"I invite you back to my settlement, we'll discuss mating agreements and enjoy a celebratory feast."    
Castiel remained quiet, allowing the Alpha stranger to guide him through the woods.  He told himself to be patient, to be brave, his real Alpha was coming.  Dean would be here soon.    
He just knew it.    
   
The Omega found himself ushered in to a cabin that scented strongly of Crowley.  Standing still he listened as the older were scrambled about the room, finally pressing a bundle of clothing against Castiel's chest.    
"These will be quite large on you, little one, but I believe you'll be more comfortable dressed."    
Cas nodded, holding the material tightly. He licked his lips and finally found his voice.    
"I already have a mating promise.  Dean, the Winchesters Head Alpha, will claim me after my next birthday."    
"But, love, he did not bond with you, so now you belong to me." Crowley sounded patient, almost kind, as if explaining himself to a small pup, "I understand you'll be quite upset for awhile but the sooner you accept your place within my pack, the sooner you'll find peace."    
Castiel listened to the were's footsteps exit the cabin sliding down the wall, sitting with his knees to his chest, arms hugging his legs.  The Omega's mind screaming for Dean.    
   
Sometime later he stood, clumsily dressing in Crowley's clothing to fumble his way to the door.    
Dean hadn't come yet and Castiel decided not to wait any longer.  His Alpha had taught him how to maneuver through woods by scent and touch.  He could smell dusk in the air, hear a concert of crickets playing and feel the cooling air on his face.    
Timidly stepping out from the cabin, dragging his hand along the logs and around the corner Balthazar's scent returned to his nose.    
"You can't leave Castiel."    
"You're my guard?"    
"Just until Crowley returns.  Seems Lucifer will mate his daughter, Ruby.  Can't have you wandering off and ruining his plans."    
"You used to be my only friend" Cas said sadly, "Lucifer killed his own mother, almost certainly murdered his father and brother.  He doesn't deserve your loyalty, Balthazar.  Help me back to Dean, he's sure to accept you and Hannah in to the pack for saving me.  Please..."    
"You beg so prettily" Crowley's voice interrupted, Castiel had been concentrating completely on convincing the Beta that he failed to scent the Alpha approach from behind.    
"You're dismissed, Balthazar.  Thank you for your assistance.  I believe your leader is enjoying my daughter's company as we speak.  Your pack is sure to leave shortly afterwards."    
Without another word, the Beta's boots shuffled away, taking the Omega's hope with him.    
Crowley gripped Castiel's elbow gently, tugging him back around the cabin and inside.    
Cas waited until the were released him to speak again.    
"I'm an embarrassment to my pack, a weak breeding bitch.  My own brother and all the Messenger's unmated Alphas have had me.  I've been bred, my pup sent to Odin before his birth. You don't want me, you're the Head Alpha of your pack; I will only bring shame to you."    
"Is this what you truly believe? Do you know you are the only Omega in all three existing packs? What happened to you before now means very little to me." Crowley's hand traced Castiel's face once again and pup gave a whimpering flinch.    
He wasn't delirious with heat this time, even though the Alpha was considerably larger than him, Castiel fought. He scratched and bit and kicked and screamed and none of it detoured Crowley. The older were had ceased his soft words of comfort, Cas could only listen to the Alpha's grunts of frustration when the Omega successfully landed a punch.    
Soon the britches he had been swimming in were gone, his hands pinned to either side of his head and the pressure of Crowley's hard cock nudged against Castiel's hole.    
The Omega froze.  There was no slick this time, no physical need and the pup finally realized there was no escape.    
"Please..." Was all he could whimper, "Please...don't..."    
"Shush, little one." Crowley breathed in to the Omega's ear a heartbeat before the Alpha pushed inside him with a burning, ripping pain.  An agony Castiel hadn't believed possible.    
His body lost all fight, all resistance as the Alpha's dick tore raw spots inside him, only to rub back over them again and again.  The coppery scent of blood in the air, the salty smell of his own tears and he could swear he heard his own heartbreak.    
The Piliger Pack's Head Alpha came with a growl low in his throat, elongated fangs bite deeply into the Omega's tender shoulder.  Castiel heard a slight popping sound followed by tearing of muscle.    
   
He was claimed, mated to Crowley.  And Dean...   
   
Dean was too late.


	8. Defeat

Dean stood toe to toe with Lucifer, fangs elongated, claws clenching cuts in to his palms as he tried to control himself.    
The Messenger Alpha continued to smirk, daring to argue.    
"I'm afraid you've been...misinformed.  Castiel has always been a confused pup, often delusional.  Our mother was murdered by rogue wolves during my brother's first heat.  The attacks on him were not from his own pack but that of strangers.  The poor thing is damaged.  If you'll not align your pack with our's then at least allow my brother to return to me."    
The Winchester's Head Alpha took a single step back, never breaking eye contact with Lucifer.    
"Sam, Benny?  Shift with me.  We're going to escort these unwelcome guests out of our territory.  I won't rip this Alpha's throat out in front of my pack."    
And while his sentiment was an honorable one, he knew he was lying.  Should Lucifer take one step towards him; make one mumbled threat to his Omega, Dean would tear the were limb from limb until there was nothing left but a pile of fur covered meat.    
Dean shifted elegantly, followed not only by Sam and Benny but several other larger packmates.  Their low threatening growls encouraging Lucifer and his weres out of the building.  Winchester wolves lead the Messengers to their border. The trip was slow going, Lucifer's pack traveling in their human form.  

The Head Alpha was still furious when he returned to his settlement.  He shifted back, dressing in the clothing he had left in the dining hall and went to see his Omega. Bobby intercepted him half way there.   
"I thought you were with Cas."    
"Boy asked me to check on ya.  By the time I got back you had already run off.  Them wolves gone?"    
"Yeah, hopefully for good."    
Dean took a step around Bobby, heading towards his cabin when the older Alpha grabbed his forearm.    
"Might wanna wait a bit to see your Omega.  Ya still reek of anger and that pup's been scared enough for one day."    
The Head Alpha nodded in agreement, turning towards Sam's cabin instead.    
His younger brother always had a way of calming him down, putting things in perspective and after an hour the scent of Dean's fury had desolved. He returned home to find his cabin empty, the smell of Castiel's fear had faded but there was a hint of something else.    
Alpha.    
Unknown Alpha.    
"Cas?  Castiel?" He continued to call as he circled the cabin. "Omega-mine!"    
Dean fought against panic, maybe Castiel had gone to Ellen's...maybe to the stream...maybe...    
The quick visit to both places proved fruitless. A wave of dread choked the Alpha and he leaned over to empty the contents of his stomach.    
Dean had barely caught his breath before storming through the Winchester settlement, barking out orders and rounding up his pack's strongest members. The group shifted before charging towards the north border where the Messenger pack had crossed over.    
Lucifer's scent still hovered but there was no trace of Castiel or the unknown Alpha.  Dean continued to track the Messengers another hour before catching a hint of Omega fear in the air.    
This.  This is where Lucifer intercepted Cas. Dean howled and his followers echoed the sound.  Winchester wolves followed their missing Omega's scent, a combined odor of both Beta and Alpha rage radiating from them.   
Dean caught the fragrance of another Alpha near a small pond. This one he recognized.  He hadn't had this smell in his nose for over five years now, but it was one he would never forget.    
Crowley.    
The Head Alpha of the Piliger pack.  He and his two of his packmates, Alastair and Azazel, had killed John Winchester and left three deep scars across Dean's face.    
The very thought of Castiel in the hands of this were had Dean seeing red, charging forward in to the Piliger packlands without permission or announcement.    
Trespassing unwelcomed and readying for war.    
   
When a dozen Winchester wolves came crashing through the settlement they were met not only by Piliger wolves but by Messengers as well.    
Dean and his packmates were outnumbered three to one and only Sam and Benny's intervention kept the Head Alpha from continuing his attack.  He would get them all slaughtered. Instead Dean shifted along with his followers, facing Lucifer once again.    
"Missing me already?" The Messenger Alpha sneered.    
"Where's Castiel?"    
"Castiel?  Oh no.  Has my poor brother wandered off again? You really should keep a closer eye on him, you know.  A tiny blind Omega pup could get in to all sorts of trouble."    
"He's here." Sam interrupted, it was becoming more and more difficult to keep from charging forward.    
"Yes he is." Came another voice from behind Lucifer.    
Crowley.    
"I'm afraid my mate has had a very difficult day.  He's resting now, not really up for visitors just yet."    
Dean struggled in the arms of his brother and best friend, words lisping out from his fangs.    
"MY mate.  Return my pack's Honored Omega now and I'll let you live."    
The Piliger's Head Alpha threw back his head to laugh, "Aw, my dear Dean.  Once again, you're too late.  You weren't able to save your father and now..."    
Crowley found his words cut short by the clenching of Dean's teeth at his throat, what followed next was a mixture of blood and chaos. Messenger and Piliger wolves attacked and defended together and when the dust settled two Winchester wolves lay dead and their Head Alpha held immobile by four sets of strong jaws.    
Lucifer and Crowley stood bloody but triumphant before the remaining Winchesters.    
"Now..." The Piliger's Head Alpha began, "You have trespassed on my territory, threatened my mate and attacked me directly.  Explain to me why I shouldn't give the order to execute you all."    
Dean continued to glare, one eye swollen shut as he defiantly struggled against the four wolves trying to contain him.    
"Lucifer, why don't you invite your brother, MY mate, to join us?"    
   
Only the sound of panting wolves, frustrated growls and whimpers of pain could be heard when Castiel appeared.  The Omega dressed in clothing far too big for him, a look of terror and confusion on his face and an overwhelming stench of fear clogging everyone's sinuses.    
And then Dean saw it.    
Cas's tunic had fallen off his shoulder, revealing a red mating bite, still seeping blood.    
It was true.  So painfully true and Dean felt an inner agony he hadn't experienced since watching his father killed.    
Murdered by the same wolves that stole and...defiled his Omega.    
HIS Castiel.    
The pup looked far more broken now than he had when Dean first found him dying in the snow. He watched as Cas scented the air, separating the odors of blood and multiple wolves to zero in on one smell.    
Dean's.    
"I'm...I'm sorry..." The Omega whispered, flinching as Crowley wrapped an arm around his shoulder.    
"Now, now, little one.  No need to apologize, right Dean?  After all, none of this is your fault.  The blame belongs to all the Alphas that have failed you.  Your father, your brothers, even Dean here.  But now that you belong to me, you'll be safe; protected."    
Castiel's mate leaned down, kissing him on the mouth, the Winchester's Head Alpha could do nothing but watch in horror as Cas quietly whimpered.    
"Because my sweet mate has affection for you, because I believe you saved his precious life at one time, I am going to allow you and the remaining members of your pack to leave.  You're going to cross over the Piliger border never to return again.  Am I understood?  Or shall Azazel and Alastair gift you the same fate as your father?"    
If Dean stood alone.  If he were not Head Alpha.  If he had not been directly responsible for the safety of his pack, he would gladly give his life in the attempt to reach Castiel.  But he wasn't alone and the Winchester wolves that had survived the battle would never leave him to fight an unwinnable battle.    
With a bitter taste of defeat on his tongue, Dean nodded, locking eyes with Crowley to silently tell him this wasn't over.    
Not by a long shot.    
   
The journey home took hours, it was dead of night and most of the Winchester settlement had gone to bed, secure in the knowledge that their Head Alpha would bring back their Honored Omega.    
Dean had the duty to inform his pack that he had lost Castiel forever.    
The Alpha needed to tell the families of the two fallen wolves he had sacrificed in the fight that they wouldn't be returning.    
He stopped by Bobby's cabin, refusing to give the older Alpha any details of his defeat. Instead Dean took several bottles of the were's grain alcohol.    
Castiel's sweet scent lingered on every item in his cabin.  Dean drank and continued to drink while sitting on their bed, holding Cas's clothing over his face, inhaling the Omega's scent and for the first time since his father died,    
Dean wept.    
   
The next day, hungover and heartbroken, he call a meeting with the council.    
No one smiled, no one even spoke at the table, all watching their Head Alpha in sympathy.    
"I am stepping down as Head Alpha of the Winchester pack.  Sam will take over duties and I will be leaving our pack lands."    
A storm of protests filled the room until the Dean used an Alpha voice to boom his command over the group.    
"Stop! I have to do what's best for my pack.  I have no intention of starting a war with the Piligers, we've already lost two of our weres and that is two too many.  I refuse to make one more Winchester a widow.  I'm removing myself from the pack because my battle with Crowley is personal.  I will slaughter the bastard or die trying.  You have to understand, there is no Dean without Castiel."    
The Winchester council sat wide-eyed in surprise had Dean's conviction.  Ellen's tears were silent, trailing unhindered down her face.  Bobby's eyes were bloodshot red, the very thought of losing John's oldest boy was impossible to accept.  Frank and Rufus mumbled between one another. Benny and Sam both stood on either side of the Alpha, Benny with a hand on his best friend's shoulder as Sam finally spoke.    
"I will accept the responsibilities of Head Alpha only until your return. And you will return.  No one here doubts you, Dean.  We know you'll be back, with your Omega and a single howl will bring the entire pack to join your fight."    
Dean echoed his younger brother's nod, pulling Sam in to a tight embrace before returning his attention to the other members of council.    
   
"My last order as Head Alpha is that you take care of one another.  You're my family, you're Castiel's family and we will need you when we return."


	9. Meg

Castiel had been pulled from Crowley's bed, bleeding and broken, by Lucifer.  The Alpha snapped at him to dress in the same oversized clothing as before and then he was dragged from the cabin.    
The scent of unknown wolves, some familiar wolves and blood.  So much coppery blood in the air, Alpha and Beta rage and...   
Dean.    
Dean was here, in Crowley's packlands and his scent was angry pain.    
"I'm..I'm sorry..." Was all the Omega had been able to choke out before Crowley's heavy arm wrapped around his shoulder. The Piliger Alpha continued to drone on nonsense, his voice deceptively soft but all Castiel could concentrate on was the sound of Dean's heavy breathing, the scent of the Alpha's blood in the air.    
The Omega was dizzy, tired and his entire body hurt.  He had trouble following the conversation but, next thing he knew, Dean was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop him. Castiel listened as members of his pack, no...not his pack anymore, Dean's pack, they all shuffled away.    
He silently allowed Crowley to pull him back through a crowd of Pilager wolves to the Head Alpha's cabin.  Cas settled at the foot of the were's bed, hands folded on his lap, not noticing his body rocking back and forth it's own.    
Crowley crouched down in front of him, covering the Omega's hands with his own.    
"I am sorry I hurt you, little one.  I needed to claim you before Dean arrived.  There'll be no reason to cause you harm again.  Understand?"    
No.  Castiel didn't understand.  He didn't understand any of this.  He grew up thinking he would never mate, then he believed he had found the perfect Alpha, so loving and patient.  Now?  Now he found himself bonded to a stranger.  An Alpha without honor, one that would have no problem mating an unwilling Omega.     
But, because he dared not anger his new mate, Cas gave a nod.  Crowley's scent lost the residual anger lacing it, smell morphing to something like...contentment, edged with lust which made Castiel more than a little nervous.    
"It's very late, little one.  You should rest, you'll feel better about all of this tomorrow."    
And while Castiel seriously doubted that, he didn't give an ounce of resistance when Crowley tugged the borrowed tunic over his head.  Simply lifting his hips as the Alpha slipped oversized britches down his legs.  The Omega had not fight or hope left in him.  And as he lay next to his new mate, waiting for sleep to overtake him, he considered suicide for the second time in his life.    
Even the threat of never seeing his mother in the afterlife failed to derail that train of thought.    
   
Castiel woke to the sounds of birds chirping and the shuffling of Piliger wolves performing their morning duties.  Crowley's member rock hard; poking him in the back as the Alpha's soft snores vibrated at the nape of his neck.    
Cas tried to keep his breathing steady; pretend to sleep when he felt Crowley stir beside him.     
"Mmmmm" the were nosed under his jaw before leaning down to peck small kisses over his mating bite, still red and just beginning to scab over. "Good morning, little one."    
With a gulp of courage, the Omega managed to squeak out "G'morning."    
Crowley gently rolled Castiel on to his back, straddling the smaller were before pressing warm lips to his mouth.  The Omega forced himself to relax and couldn't help but think of Dean.  The Winchester's kisses were always so gentle, reverent...this was...just...   
Wrong.    
Cas's new mate began trailing his lips down the pup's body, pecking; licking; giving small nips until he reached the Omega's small, limp cock. Castiel gasped, pressing his heels in to the mattress in a pathetic attempt to move away.    
"Ssshhh, little one" the Alpha pulling off for a moment even as his finger traced around Castiel's very sore hole. "Relax and it won't hurt this time.  I can make you feel good."    
The Omega could only answer with a whimper when Crowley took him back in to his mouth, sucking lightly and running his tongue around the head.  All the while pushing a finger slowly into Cas's entrance.  Castiel flushed with shame as his body betrayed him, dick growing hard in the moist heat of the Alpha's mouth; slick dripped from his hole, easing the older were's digits inside him.    
"Perfect...so beautiful..." The Alpha panted, moving his knees in between the Omega's legs, spreading him wider before pushing his cock inside, inch by inch even as Castiel yipped at the residual soreness from before.    
Crowley shushed him again, pressing deeper, all the while stroking Cas's member.  Castiel gripped the pillows beneath his head, biting his bottom lip until it bleed and tried to find another place to go in his mind.  

-Walking with Dean through the woods, listening to the birds and the wind-    
-Sitting with Bobby in the dining hall, reciting Naomi's herbal mixtures and the Alpha's coal scrapped rhythmically across a parchment, documenting every word-    
-Holding Sam and Jess's pup, Henry.  Hearing his soft gurgles...-  

Castiel was ripped from his thought by a tightening low in his stomach.  Reality brought him back to Crowley's knot pressing into his hole moments before an orgasm tore through him, clenching around the Alpha to lock them together.  Crowley continued to rut in to him, coming with a deep growl as his seed pumped inside his mate.    
The Alpha collapsed on to Cas, sweaty and panting, breathing profanities in to the Omega's ear.  Crowley wrapped his arms around the pup, rolling them to their side before tugging the blanket up to their waists.    
"See, little one?  You'll breed so pretty for me.  I'll fill you up fat with my pups. You can be happy here."    
Castiel didn't believe a word of it, the thought of catching with pup scared him. Last time the little being only lasted a few weeks inside him.  Cas didn't want a life created inside him just to send it back to Odin. But he nodded anyway, keeping his Alpha happy would probably keep him from being hurt. At least that's what he was hoping.    
Crowley's door slammed open while the couple remained tied together.  Cas scented an angry female Beta as well as bacon and biscuits.    
"Meg!  You cannot barge in my room anymore!  You're making my Omega uncomfortable."    
"I apologize, oh great Head Alpha" the were not sounding the least bit sorry, "Father suggested I bring you and our...'Honored Omega' breakfast."    
"Tell Azazel I'll let him know when to send food from now on.  My mate and I will need our privacy. Find some smaller clothing for Castiel."    
"Of course..."    
Castiel listened as a tray slammed down on the table just outside Crowley's bedroom door, the stomping of Meg's boots followed just before the front door crashed shut.    
"Sorry, little one.  I'm afraid they'll be a bit of jealousy among my pack.  You've taken the place many have coveted."    
Hated by his pack?  Yes, he had been here before.    
   
Cas ate very little, wrapped in Crowley's blankets. He could only force bits of biscuit down his throat to appease his mate's insistence that he needed his strength.    
The Omega didn't talk much, only giving short, one word answers to the Alpha's questions.  Crowley dressed and told his mate he would be back momentarily, he wanted to see what was taking Meg so long with Castiel's clothing.    
Cas fumbled his way back to the bed, sitting crossed legged against the headboard with his blanket tucked securely around him.    
He wondered what Dean was doing right now.  Was he up checking on the members of his pack?  Was he injured from yesterday?  Hurting? Was he...   
The cabin door slammed open once again, the smell of angry Beta followed by a pile of clothing thrown aggressively against the Omega's chest.    
"There's your clothes, little breeding bitch!'    
Cas froze in place, in his experience name calling escalated to beatings pretty quickly.    
"You know, I've been sharing Crowley's bed for fifteen years.  Fifteen years without a mating bond.  I gave that were a daughter.  A beautiful daughter he traded off for you!  YOU! An Omega whore younger than his offspring.  It's disgusting. You've made our Head Alpha a pathetic, lustful embarrassment to his entire pack."    
The Beta's voice grew closer with each word, speaking with a low growl and a threatening lisp as her fangs elongated.  Her anger burned Castiel's nose, he edged up as close to the head of the bed as possible, saying nothing to defend himself.    
Maybe she would kill him.  He couldn't be punished by Odin for taking his own life if Meg did it for him.     
"MEGAN!"    
Crowley's Alpha voice thundered through the cabin. Castiel listened to the shuffle and growling that followed. Meg whined and yipped several times before a loud crash signaled the end of the fight. Cas scented blood in the air, the smell of angry Beta covered completely by Alpha rage.  The Omega remained still and quiet, concentrating on the sounds around him.    
The Alpha's heavy breathing, footsteps stomping away, Crowley yelling from the doorway of his home.    
"Azazel!  Come get your daughter before I rip her throat out!"    
There was a dragging noise, a new scent of unknown Beta and what must be Azazel's voice.    
"By Odin, Crowley!  Is she even breathing?"    
"That's not my problem.  You figure it out.  She insulted my mate, dared to threaten our pack's Honored Omega.  Meg is banished from Piliger pack lands.  You may follow her if you like but she's to be burned in a funeral pyre or dropped outside my territory immediately."    
The door slammed again and tears escaped Castiel's sightless eyes.  Crowley had beaten the Beta brutally.  If what Meg said was true, that they had shared their lives together and raised a daughter, the Alpha had no problem turning on those close to him.  

   
That meant Cas was nowhere near safe.


	10. Back up

Dean left the Winchester pack lands less than an hour after the meeting.  He avoided having to say goodbye to the entire pack, traveling to the southern border, around Piliger territory to neutral ground. The Alpha set up camp deep in the woods; successfully hunted for dinner and had a decent fire going just before dusk.    
Then he smelled it.    
Scent overlaying the odor of burning wood.  Shifting to his wolf, Dean followed the aroma closer to his enemies border.  A brunette Beta were lay injured, clothing torn, covered in blood.  Sniffing closer he found her alive and reeking of fear and pain.    
What was it with packs deserting vulnerable wolves?  How was that acceptable?  Did he miss a damn meeting or something?    
With a frustrated sigh, Dean morphed to his human form, lifting the boneless Beta in to his arms and headed towards the nearest water source, a small stream further away from the Piligers.    
The Beta moaned and whimpered as he used the tatters of her clothing to wipe away the blood, seeking the source of each injury and finding a brutality he hadn't witnessed in a very long time.   
Once the unconscious were was clean, the Alpha carried her back to his campsite, digging out needle and thread.  Normally he would offer the Beta some of Bobby's grain alcohol but the were failed to wake when he stitched the deep bite marks and closed the gaping slashes of a claw.    
Another were did this, not a bear and this information alone set fire to Dean's blood.  Since he had found the Beta just outside Piliger territory there was a good chance she came from their pack.  The overwhelming savagery of the attack, the fact that she was left alone with her injuries only reassured the Alpha that his Omega needed to come home.    
Mating bite be damned.     
There was a way to break a mating bond, the death of one of the mates.  Killing Crowley and hopefully Azazel and Alastair as well would free Castiel and avenge John's death.  Dean just needed to get close enough.    
It was late, moon high in the sky and the sounds of the woods singing a lullaby.  The mysterious Beta remained asleep, only the occasional whimper or yip proved she was alive.  Dean forced a bit of water down the were's throat, wrapped her securely in a spare blanket and set about resting for the night.    
   
Dean awoke to the mumbling sound of profanity. The Beta had opened her eyes and while she was too injured to move apparently nothing was wrong with her mouth.    
"Who the fuck are you?"    
"I could ask you the same thing.  I'm the one who saved you from bleeding to death in the dirt."    
"I'm Meg." She answered with a humph.    
"Dean."    
"Winchester Alpha Dean?"    
"One and the same."    
"You're too late to save your breeding whore."    
"Watch your mouth, I can toss you right back where I found you."    
Meg tried to sit up only to collapse back to the ground, panting "Crowley tried to kill me over that Omega."    
That caught Dean's complete attention, "Crowley did this to you? Did you see Castiel?  Is he hurt?"    
With a frustrated sigh, the Beta answered through clenched teeth, "Yeah.  I saw him.  He's just fine. Mated to MY Alpha.  So, yeah, I was a bit pissed off. Didn't think the asshole would actually try to kill me."    
"Your Alpha?"    
"Spent half my life with him, we have a daughter together, never mated. Then he finds your precious Omega and I'm nothing.  A fucking slave, bringing him and his breeding slut meals and clothes..."    
Dean interrupted again, "Call Castiel a slut one more time and I'll make what Crowley did to you feel like a day in the sun.  None of this is his fault.  You're mad at your Alpha?  Pissed that he has a young Omega mate?  Then help me."    
"Help you?  Help you what?"    
"Help me get to Cas, I'll kill Crowley and his two faithful followers, I just can't take on the entire pack."    
"One of his faithful followers is my father."    
Dean raised a brow, "Azazel or Alastair?  Whichever it is, they let you be thrown out to die."    
"Azazel, and he threw me out himself."    
"So...you still feel family loyalty to the creep?"    
"No, actually.  I don't know what happens to my pack if all three of their leaders are dead.  I'm not sure how much help I can be.  I'm banished from Piliger territory, you have a better chance of getting in that I do."    
"Yes, but you know the layout of the settlement.  You know exactly where Castiel is.  You help me rescue my Omega, I can promise your safety in the Winchester pack."    
Meg seemed to be thinking it over, "You're going to have to give me a few days.  I can't even move, I'm dying of thirst and starving to death.  You get me back on my feet, hero, and I'll do what I can to bring Crowley down."    
   
It was three days before Meg could stand on her own, another two before she could walk and it took over a week for the Beta to gain enough strength to fully function.  Dean still worried about her pulling stitches, the wounds were deep; bandages needed to be changed constantly.     
The Alpha kept her warm and fed, looking a bit adorable in his baggy clothing.  They argued constantly but there was never any real malice behind it.  Bickering like an older brother might with a younger sister.  Meg was strong, angry and determined.  She was exactly what Dean needed her to be.    
Two weeks later, still unable to shift to her wolf without re-injuring herself, the Beta led Dean to the northernmost border of Piliger, Crowley's cabin a mere mile away. The Alpha shifted to his wolf, sniffing around until he finds a pile of deer dung a few yards away.    
Then he rolled in it.    
Meg is gagging, pinching her nose shut in a poor attempt to block the stench.    
"What the hell are you doing?"    
Dean sniffs the air again, his wolf gives the Beta a slight head tilt before padding by her towards Crowley's cabin.    
   
The Alpha could scent Crowley along with a trace of Castiel.  His Omega smelled...sick? Scared?  So close to the odor Cas seemed to have drowned in when they first met.  Piled under a hill of snow and waiting to die.    
Castiel might be waiting to die now and that was something Dean could not accept.  Even if it meant getting himself killed, he was sending Cas back to Winchester with Meg.  He knew in his heart Sammy would take care of them both.  Before the Alpha gave himself over to death, he would make sure Crowley came with him.     
Freeing his Omega.    
Dean's wolf crawled low to the ground, breath steady and scent well masked behind the deer shit coating his fur. He managed to avoid being seen until he was directly behind the Piliger's Head Alpha's home.  Creeping around the corner his heart skipped a beat.    
Castiel was leaning against the outside wall, bent over and violently throwing up. The Alpha had just started to move towards him when Crowley's voice came echoing from in front of the building.    
"Omega!  I told you not to go outside!"    
Cas was trying to catch his breath, releasing a whimper as the Alpha gripped him by his head, forcing his face towards the older were.    
"What the hell is wrong with you?"    
"I...I'm sorry.  I didn't want to get sick inside."    
"You're smell is off..."    
Dean inhaled deeply and Crowley was right, there was something else lacing the scent of Omega illness and fear.    
By Odin...Castiel was with pup!   
It had only been two weeks since he was taken.  Two weeks; that couldn't possibly be enough time to catch.    
The Winchester Alpha could see the moment the same realization hit Crowley.  The older were smiled, moving his hands from the Omega's hair to cup his flushed face.    
"You're pregnant.  First mated heat and you're with pup.  Perfect, my perfect, sweet mate."    
Crowley tugged Cas's hand, leading him back around the cabin.  A heartbeat before Castiel turned the corner, the Omega glanced over his shoulder, towards the trees where the Alpha had stayed hidden.    
He mouthed the word...    
"Dean."    
Somehow, over the smell of his own sick and the reek of Dean's camouflage, Castiel had scented his true Alpha.    
   
Dean followed the path Crowley and Cas had taken around the shelter, praying to Odin no other were would see him as the Piliger Alpha left Castiel in the cabin, hurrying to inform his pack that he had a pup on the way.    
When Dean was sure Crowley was out of sight, the Alpha crept into the cabin where the Omega sat, weeping at the foot of the bed.    
"Dean?" Castiel whispered, raising his head, sniffing the air.    
The older were shifted quickly, still covered in deer dung, hushing Cas. "I'm getting you out of here, sweetheart."    
The Omega shook his head sadly, "He mated me, my...my heat hit last week and now..."    
"I know and it's ok.  Just come with me now, we'll fix everything.  I promise."   
"Promise?" Came Crowley's deep voice from the doorway, "but my dear Dean, however can you keep such a vow when you're dead?"    
   
Meg had been nervously waiting from her post just outside Pilager pack lands when she scented more wolves.    
For a moment, she was sure her former packmates had caught Dean and had come to kill her too.  But this odor wasn't one of familiar weres.  It was two unknown Alphas and they were close.    
Frustrated that she couldn't shift to her wolf and at least try to defend herself, she turned towards the scent and have her best growl.    
"Whoa there, darlin'" a deep voice came seconds before the two naked Alphas appeared from the trees. One absurdly tall, cocoa hair to his shoulder, the other a bit shorter but more muscular, crooked grin spread across his face.    
"You Piliger pack?" The tall one asked, brows furrowed.    
"I was..."    
"Looks like ya mighta got into a bit of a scuffle there." The other Alpha, tilting his head slightly.    
"Yeah, well...who the hell are you?"    
"I'm Sam, this is Benny.  We're looking for my brother.  Tracked his smell here but now..."    
"Now" Meg supplied with a grin, "Now he's covered himself in shit."    
Benny chuckled, "Yep, I know that trick."    
"Where is he?" Sam asked, looking over the short Beta's shoulder.    
"Went in to Piliager, looking for that damn Omega."    
The taller Alpha gifted her a glare before turning to Benny, "Well, looks like we got here in the nic of time.  Ready?"    
"As I'll ever be."    
"Wait.  Ready for what?" Meg asked wide-eyed.    
"Ready to get our Head Alpha back." Benny winked before both Alphas shifted.  Sam's deep brown wolf leading Benny's gray one pass enemy lines.  

 

"Winchester wolves are fucking stupid." Meg mumbled with a smirk.  If these three wolves didn't get themselves killed, she wouldn't mind spending a little more time with that brutish gray one...


	11. Reunited

Crowley's voice drifting from behind failed to anger Dean more than the scent of fear wafting off of Castiel as the Omega shifted back on the bed, pressing his heals into the mattress until he sat against the headboard.    
Dean turned slowly, red Alpha fury bleeding from his irises.    
"How 'bout we step outside?"    
"Come now, dear Dean. I've spared your life twice.  I'm afraid I'm unable to do that a third time.  You're trespassing and attempting to kidnap my mate.  You're obviously suicidal."  
Crowley backed out of the door as he spat his pathetic threats, the Piliger Alpha making a show of rolling up his sleeves, preparing to fight.    
Dean wasn't much for words. Wasn't much for threats or intimidations.  The Winchester Alpha was a were of action so instead of answering Crowley's blubbering, he tackled his foe to the ground the second they were free of the cabin.    
The first punch landed directly on Crowley's nose, splitting the fragile bone beneath and bringing tears to the Alpha's eyes.  Crowley struck back, a fist to Dean's jaw snapped his head back enough for the older Alpha to roll out of Dean's hold.    
Stumbling to their feet, both weres glared at one another.  Crowley took a moment to wipe the blood from his nose on his sleeve and then grinned.    
As Dean started to charge after the Alpha, both of his arms were gripped from behind, holding him back, allowing Crowley to advance on him.    
Struggling against Alastair and Azazel to free himself, Dean growled at the Piliger's Head Alpha.    
"Coward! Need your goons to fight for you?"    
"Not at all, dear Dean.  They won't strike you, not even once."    
Crowley stood close enough for Dean to feel the were's breath across his cheek. The older Alpha punched him in the stomach without further warning, knocking all the air from him as Dean doubled over. An uppercut to his chin forced his head back giving Crowley the opening to bloody his nose, split his lip and temporarily blind him with hard strike to his right eye socket.    
Dean took the opportunity to spit blood onto Crowley's boots when the rival Alpha paused a moment to shake out his sore hand. The older were opened his mouth to spout more insults and threats but found himself interrupted by the howls of two Alpha wolves charging in from behind the cabins.    
The deep brown wolf knocked Azazel's grip from Dean's arms, tumbling the yellow-eyed were to the ground where Sam ripped his throat out without further warning.    
Dean fell to his knees as Benny's wolf pulled Alastair from him by the back of his neck.  A quick glimpse at his Head Alpha and he received the slightest of nods before clamping strong jaws on the enemy were's throat, echoing Azazel's demise.    
Crowley stood, wide-eyed in shock and reeking of fear as Dean pulled himself upright.  Blood ran freely from his nose and mouth.  His right eye had already began to swell shut and he held a hand to his side, sure that a few ribs were broken.    
Sam and Benny shifted, standing behind their Head Alpha with ragged breath.  Dean moved nose to nose with the Piliger's Head Alpha.    
"You killed my father.  Kidnapped and raped my Omega.  There is no retaliation on earth vicious enough to make that right.  So, I send you to Odin for your punishment.  May you suffer every pain you caused in this world in the afterlife."    
Without further ceremony, Dean reached out to Crowley, gripping the Alpha's chin in one palm and the base of his skull in the other.  A sickeningly crunching sound echoed through air as Dean snapped Crowley's neck with one swift movement.  The Head Alpha of Piliger lay dead at his feet, sightless eyes forever open, expression of pure terror on his face for all eternity.    
The Winchester Head Alpha raised his head, watching the rest of the Piliger pack gather to the middle of their settlement.  Each were taking in the death of their Head Alpha and his two minions.  Sam, Benny and Dean prepared themselves for the battle that would surely follow.    
But no Piliger were made a move towards them.  Some held an expression of shock, other faces read of relief.  The scent of anger in the air had faded with the souls of Crowley, Alastair and Azazel.  The Piliger pack showed no remorse or grief at the death of their leader.    
After exchanging wide eyed glances with his brother and best friend, Dean turned back to Crowley's cabin where his Omega waited.    
Castiel hadn't moved an inch from his position on the bed.  Tears streaked unhindered down the Omega's face, knees to his chest as he hugged his legs tightly to his body.    
"Omega-mine?  Are you alright, sweetheart?"    
Cas gasped in relief, opening his arms wide for Dean to move into a tight embrace.  The Alpha covered in deer dung, dirt and blood failed to discourage Castiel's grip around his neck.  The Omega buried his nose behind Dean's ear, where his Alpha scent was strongest and took several deep, calming breaths.    
"Crowley...?" The younger were whispered against Dean's hair.    
"Dead.  You can come home now."    
"But...I..."    
"You're coming home, Castiel.  And I’m never letting you outta my sight again."   
   
After coaxing Cas to shift to his wolf, a process stuttered slightly by his pregnancy, a trio of Winchester Alphas trotted casually from the Piliger settlement, leaving a pack of weres without a leader.    
When they reached to edge of their rival's terriotory, Castiel scented Meg nearby and growled low in his throat.  Dean nudged him slightly behind his ear in a failed attempt to reassure.  Cas's wolf pulled his lips back, baring his fangs in aggression.    
Dean shifted, Benny and Sam followed a heartbeat later but Castiel remained in his wolf, defensive.    
"Omega-mine.  Meg's not a threat.  She helped me find you.  Calm down, you're safe now."    
Cas growled a few more times before reluctantly shifting, reaching out a hand towards Dean and receiving the Alpha's warm palm against his own.    
"Looks like you got your ass handed to you, Dean." Meg chuckled, taking in the Alpha's battered face.    
"Yeah, well, I'm afraid your Alpha and your father weren't so lucky."    
The Beta's face fell uncharacteristically serious for a moment.    
"All dead?"    
"Sorry Meg. Crowley, Azazel and Alastair died five years ago, the moment they took our father from us." Sam answered, expression a combination of sympathetic and vengeful.    
Meg nodded slightly and then shook her head violently, as if dusting off any grief she might have had.    
"You headed back?" Dean asked with a raised brow, "Your pack looks a little lost right now."    
"I was promised safety with the Winchester pack by the Head Alpha himself.  Think I'm gonna take you up on that offer, if it still stands."    
"It stands." Dean grinned.    
"Tell ya what" Benny interrupted, "You and Sammy take our little Omega here back to Winchester, I'll stay behind with Meg.  She won't be able to travel in her wolf and I can pack up your camp, make sure she gets there safely."    
Sam and Dean exchanged smirks and eye rolls, even Castiel caught Benny's meaning and couldn't fight the grin that spread across his face.    
"Sounds like a plan.  You ok with that, Meg?"    
The Beta locked eyes with Benny, biting her bottom lip lightly before answering, "Oh yes, I'll feel much safer with this big strong Alpha to protect me." Gifting Dean a wink before turning back towards their campsite, Benny wiggling his brows at his best friend and trailing behind her.    
"Well...that was...." Sam began.    
"Predictable" Dean chuckled, "Saw that coming a mile away.  That little Beta's gonna tear him apart."    
Castiel pulled his hand from the warmth of his Alpha's palm, turning suddenly to vacate the meager contents of his stomach.  Gagging and struggling to catch his breath.    
Sam raised a brow at his older brother.    
"Cas is with pup.  Not feeling too well right now."    
Dean ignored Sammy's speechless open mouth and wide eyes.    
"Let's get you home, Omega-mine."    
Castiel spit a few times, trying to erase the foul taste in his mouth before shifting quietly to his wolf.    
Dean morphed as well, gripping the smaller were by the nape of his neck and carrying him through the woods as if he were newborn. Sam's wolf followed close behind, traveling further and further away from Piliger land.    
   
It was late evening before they arrived home, having stopped several times to allow Castiel to throw up and rest a bit.    
Winchester weres came out of their shelters in clusters, flooding the pathway through the settlement as their Head Alpha returned triumphantly with his Omega and brother.  Dean continued to carry Castiel to their cabin, leaving Sam to shift and assure everyone that Benny was alright, simply delayed.  The younger Winchester Alpha pulled his mate and pup tightly to his chest, thanking Odin he had returned safely to his family.    
Dean settled Cas reverently on their bed and the Omega shifted back carefully. The Alpha morphed as well, kneeling next to the mattress by Castiel.    
"How are you feeling, Omega-mine?"    
Cas shook his head, tears returning to trail down his cheek.    
Dean tugged him tenderly in to a hug, stroking fingers through onyx hair and sighing.    
"How can I help, sweetheart?"    
The Omega pulled back in order to face his Alpha.    
"Take a bath, maybe?"    
It took a full five seconds for Cas's request to hit Dean's brain.  He stared at the Omega, catching just a hint of a smirk in the younger were's face.    
With a huff of laughter, the Alpha allowed the tension and worry in his body to drift away. Cas was here.  Here in his cabin with him.  Safe, sound and cracking jokes.    
"We'll take a bath, Omega-mine, eat an incredibly big meal and then sleep for a week.  And we're not giving one more thought or worry to Crowley or the Piligers."    
"But...my pup..."    
"Not one more worry, Castiel.  Your pup would appreciate a meal and a good night's sleep as well.  We have plenty of time to talk tomorrow.  You're not going anywhere.  Ever again."    
Dean watched a hopeful smile spread across his intended mate's face.  Intended mate because, by Odin, this Omega belonged with him.  Belonged to him and there was nothing left in the world to stand between them.    
   
Once they were clean and fed, clinging naked to one another in bed, the Winchester's Head Alpha dipped his head, pecking small kisses across Castiel's cheek until he reached the Omega's ear.    
"Your pup is my pup, Omega-mine.  Family don't end in blood, sweetheart.  As soon as the little one is born, I'm going to mate you properly.  All the Piligers and Messengers of the world be damned."    
Tears spilled from Cas's sightless white eyes to drop unhindered on to Dean's chest but there was no sadness to be scented.    
The Alpha held his Omega safe in his arms, listening as the crying faded away; the younger were's breaths deepened when Castiel finally fell in to a much needed sleep.  

 

Dean closed his eyes, sending a prayer of thanks to the heavens and slept in complete peace for the first time in five years.


	12. Castiel

The average length of a wolf's pregnancy is 70 day, approximately 10 weeks. Castiel was only in his second week; other than to relieve himself or throw up, the Omega has stayed in bed.  
No herbal teas or Alpha encouragements were able to move him.  
He slept most of the time, in his dreams he can see. His mind creates images of what Dean, Bobby, Sam, Ellen and even Crowley look like.  
What his pup might look like.  
Castiel liked to stay there, in his dreams, as long as he could. Waking only to eat and drink, assure his Alpha that he's fine only to drift off again.  
The Omega liked it there. In his own little world where his pup is Dean's. Where he's not hurt or angry, not worried or scared. Where the happy life he had created for himself with the Winchester pack never suffered from his kidnapping and forced mating.  
When Cas is awake, when reality punches him in the stomach so hard he can barely breathe, he cries. Castiel scents to make sure his Alpha isn't close by, then he buries his face in the pillow and screams. 

In his fourth week of pregnancy, he can feel his pup move.  
He sits with his back against the headboard, reluctantly eating the mystery stew Ellen brought him for lunch, when the little one gives an aggressive kick.  
Castiel drops his spoon, laying both hands over his abdomen waiting for the action to repeat.  
It only takes a few minutes for the restless pup to kick once more, rolling itself in to a more comfortable position before settling once again.  
A small smile spreads across his face.  
"Haven't seen that in awhile." Dean's voice drifts over from somewhere near the entrance.  
"Seen what?" Cas tilting his head to the side just a bit.  
"Your smile. I've missed it." The Alpha moving closer to sit next to his Omega.  
Castiel smiled again, shaking his head a little.  
Dean's calloused hand gripped his gently, "It's ok to smile, you know?"  
Cas bit his bottom lip lightly between his teeth, blinking unexpected tears away as he nodded.  
"Been worried about you, Omega-mine."  
"I'm fine."  
The Alpha sighed loudly, "No, you're really not. I want you to talk to me, I NEED you to talk me. It hurts that you won't let me help."  
Castiel furrowed his brow, seeming to be picking his words carefully.  
"When my packmates...dishonored me, left me bred and unmated, I felt for certain I never deserved you but selfishly wanted to be with you anyway. Now...now I've been mated, I've been bred once again and...and..."  
The Omega words muffled into sobs as he limply fell against Dean's shoulder.  
"And now you think we shouldn't mate?" The Alpha supplied sadly.  
Castiel shook his head, whispering "I'm unworthy."  
The older were huffed, pulling Cas's face between his palms before pecking a light kiss on the tip of the Omega's nose.  
"I am unworthy of you, Omega-mine." Before Castiel could open his mouth to protest, Dean hushed him and continued, "You're stronger and braver than you know, and for some reason Odin choose to gift you to me. We are not so wise to deny or defy the act of a god. I entered Piliger territory alone, fully ready to give my life to save you. I left there alive, my mate and my brothers with me. You don't get to decide if you are worthy or deserving. We are here; together. And that's where we're going to stay. Understood?"  
One of the many mysteries of the universe is how Dean Winchester can sound both frightenly commanding at the same time as he is loving and patient. Somehow he manages to relay all those feelings and more through every word and Castiel soaks them in like warm sunshine.  
"Understood." 

After that, it gets easier to leave the bed, leave the cabin and attempt to resume his previous routine.  
Helping Bobby and Ellen with herbs, even as they both orbit worry and concern around him.  
Castiel feels better in the fresh air, the slight crackle of newly falling leaves preview the oncoming autumn. His pup has another seven weeks to grow; Jessica has been systematically transferring all of Henry's used baby clothing and furnishing over to Dean's cabin.  
Cas quietly turns 14 years old during his eighth week of pregnancy. It was a birthday he had been looking forward to before the Messenger's visit last summer.  
It was the day he and Dean were supposed to mate. 

The Omega has slowly gotten used to Meg's scent within their settlement. For the first month or so, just a hint of her fragrance would produce a low, protective growl from his throat without thought. Castiel's wolf viciously protective of his pup.  
Meg has made her presence known in other ways. She and Benny's mating activities are uncomfortably loud and nether were seems ashamed of that fact. Even the Winchester pack's Head Alpha has had to knock on their door more than once.  
He tries not to think of Crowley. Tries to forget that his pup came from an unwanted mate. Castiel likes to pretend that Dean is the father. Dean likes to pretend too so they live, happily dilussioned. 

It's the middle of the day, just after lunch but before his daily check up with Ellen that the Omega feels the first sharp cramp grip him. Moments later warm fluid flows down his inner thighs and he finds himself on his knees in the middle of the settlement.  
Suddenly a dozen voices swirl around him but Castiel is unable to answer. The Omega blows through his contraction, desperately scenting the crowd for Dean.  
Hands pull him up when he's able to catch his breath, leading him to his cabin as he continues to search out his Alpha. Ellen and Jo help him undress, set him comfortably in bed and the older Beta informs him that delivering a pup may take hours.  
And then the most welcomed scent on earth enters the shelter and his anxiety fades to dull worry.  
Dean.  
Thank Odin.  
Throughout the afternoon, in to the evening and deep in to the night, Dean holds Castiel's hand through every contraction, wipes his forehead with cool rags and whispers words of love and encouragement. Never leaving the Omega's side, even as Ellen suggest he exit for the actual birth.  
The healing Beta receives a deep growl in response and immediately squashes the idea.  
Castiel thought he knew pain before. Thought the beatings and the starving, the freezing cold and a visit to near death was agony.  
The Omega was clearly mistaken.  
His pup fought it's way into the world with each agonizing cramp and just when he thought it was impossible to give one more push, the screaming little one fell into Ellen's arms.  
Cas felt his pup laid warm and wet on his chest, his hands instinctively pulling the babe to his neck, scenting blood and listening to a demanding shriek.  
"A boy..." Dean breathed in his ear, pecking small kisses to the Omega's cheek and if Castiel didn't know any better, he would swear the Head Alpha of the Winchester pack was crying.  
A boy. 

Benjamin Samuel, called Little Ben, was a healthy; demanding Omega pup. His need for constant attention happily satisfied by the entire Winchester pack.  
An Omega, first one birthed to the pack since Sam and Dean's mother, Mary. This was a good Omen, a blessing and his paternity all but forgotten.  
Two months after Little Ben's arrival, the spoiled pup stayed with his Uncle Sam, Aunt Jess and cousin Henry overnight.  
The Head Alpha of the Winchester pack planned to claim his Honored Omega.  
Finally. 

Castiel was more than a little nervous. While not a blushing virgin, he had never willingly given himself to another were. Haunting memories and a cloud of fear wrapped around him like a blanket.  
One touch from Dean. A single hand on the Omega's shoulder and the blanket lifted, the scent of love and adoration from his Alpha thick enough to bring tears to Cas's sightless eyes.  
Dean undressing him felt like worship, calloused hands tender, tracing Castiel's skin before lifting the small were bridal style, laying him reverently on the bed. The Alpha straddled his love, flittering small kisses across his neck and cheek before settling on those perfectly bowed lips.  
No one had kissed the Omega since Balthazar, two years ago, in another life, in an alternate reality.  
Cas opened willingly, allowing his Alpha to explore his mouth with his tongue. Dean's erection hard against his thigh and the wetness of his own slick dripping from his hole.  
This was right. This was perfect. This was everything he had been missing and he swam in a feeling of complete contentment.  
Panting in Castiel's ear, Dean managed to choke out "you get frightened or uncomfortable, tell me and we'll stop. I won't do anything you don't want me to, Omega-mine."  
Cas wrapped his legs around his Alpha's waist, his arms around his neck, pulling him close. "I want this, Alpha-mine. There's nothing in the world I want more than to belong to you forever."  
They had a lifetime to make sweet, tender love to one another. Tonight. Tonight was about connecting, building an unbreakable bond, becoming mates both body and soul.  
Dean's cock nudged the swollen pink ring of Castiel's entrance. Omega slick, oily and honey-sweet, flowed plentiful, coating Cas's thighs and soaking the quilts below. His body welcoming... aching.  
Castiel gasped as the Alpha's dick pressed into him. There was no raw, red pain. No tearing or ripping. Just an overwhelming sense of fullness. An emptiness inside his very being filled and throbbing for more.  
"Alright?" Dean choked out, fighting not to rut feral into his Omega.  
"Perfect" Cas whispered, nuzzling the Alpha's neck.  
Castiel could feel Dean's grin against his cheek, opening his mouth wide to invite the older were's tongue inside. They kissed tenderly as the Alpha pressed inside his Omega, just an inch at a time even as Cas pushed his hips up in eager encouragement.  
And when Dean was completely sheathed inside Castiel's tightness, the couple gasped in unison.  
It was perfect. So perfect. Everything the Omega longed for. His emptiness; the sense that he had always been missing something, that he didn't belong, all erased with this single act of love.  
And where Rufus may tell you true mates are fairy tales, Frank was right all along.  
This Alpha and Omega belonged together. Odin designed them to find one another, to fit flawlessly.  
Dean's thrusts grew faster, Castiel's moans of pleasure louder, their kisses deeper as the Alpha's knot nudged against his Omega's hole. When the swollen knob pressed inside, locking them together, Cas came untouched, his entrance gripping Dean's cock and pulling the Alpha into heaven with him.  
Castiel threw his head back, baring his throat in invitation. Dean howled, his voice carrying through Winchester territory and beyond, before elongated fangs bit into Cas, over the scar tissue of Crowley's mark; erasing the rival Alpha's very existence. 

Castiel.  
Unwanted son of the Messenger Pack's Head Alpha.  
Disgraced, dishonored and abused by his brother.  
Cast off and left for dead.  
Kidnapped and mated against his will. 

Castiel.  
Honored Omega of the Winchester Pack.  
Adored by his packmates.  
Proud poppa of an Omega pup.  
Dean's beloved mate. 

Castiel.  
Not his father's son.


	13. Conclusion

Dean's life was perfect.  
His pack healthy and happy.  
Father to an Omega son.  
Bonded to his true mate.  
Even the bitter hatred he had held on to the last six years erased by the deaths of his father's murderers.  
Perfection cannot last forever. 

Winter had taken it's time to arrive. It was after the new year before the first snowflake floated through the air.  
Little Ben was almost five months old, brightest blue eyes always searching curiously.  
Castiel remained healthy, the danger of winter fever always a concern but the Omega had gained much needed weight and drank his own mixture of herbal tea every morning, assuring his mate it would fight off any illness that came his way.  
Activity slowed through the settlement as the temperature dropped. Cas often had Little Ben strapped warmly to his chest whenever he left his home.  
Dean watched proudly as his Honored Omega drifted sightlessly from cabin to cabin, checking in on his packmates as Ellen normally did. And when Meg caught with pup, any hard feelings left from Piliger were completely erased as he helped deliver a Beta daughter they promptly named Elizabeth.  
Castiel and Dean's nights were filled making slow love in front of the fireplace. Cas's second heat after the birth of Little Ben, left the Honored Omega expecting another pup. 

*** 

Castiel was better at finding roots and herbs during the winter months because of his sense of smell and experience searching through the snow. He left Little Ben with Bobby, the grumpy Alpha unable to keep his sour expression when he read to the pup and headed in to the woods just outside their settlement.  
The snow was still fluffy, floating down to stick to the Omega's eyelashes. Cas took a few moments to raise his head, facing the sky and whispering a small prayer of gratitude to Odin. Through the clean, fresh scent of winter, Castiel caught another odor. He continued to inhale and exhale deeply, telling himself that he was imagining things, scenting a bad memory and nothing else.  
Until a deep, unwelcomed voice reached his ears.  
"You."  
Lucifer.  
Cas had almost forgot the Alpha existed. The Winchester pack had heard nothing from Piligers or Messengers since Castiel's return.  
"You should have been drowned at birth, cursed Omega whore."  
Castiel had counted steps away from his cabin to his position among the trees. The blind were knew each obstruction and felt confident he could reach his settlement quickly. Cas refused to respond to the Alpha's insults, turning his back on him.  
That was a mistake.  
Before the Omega could brace himself to run, Lucifer attacked, knocking the smaller were to the ground face first. Castiel took most of his weight on his hands, keeping his pregnant stomach from hitting the dirt. His right palm landed painfully on a sharp rock, slicing through the skin.  
His cowardly brother circled him slowly, allowing Cas to turn and sit up. Castiel held his injured hand to his chest, bent over in a pathetic attempt to protect his abdomen. Lucifer's next strike was a booted kick to the Omega's ribs, knocking him sideway. Cas stayed there, rolling in to a fetal position and waiting.  
The Alpha continued to kick, hit and taunt Castiel.  
"I went back to Piliger after Crowley's death, as his only offspring's mate I should have been able to take over as Head Alpha. Combining the Piligers with our pack would give us the numbers to take out the Winchesters. I would have been the leader of three combined packs. The most powerful Head Alpha ever known. But you. You had to breed, didn't you? Popping out a damn Omega pup. Piligers won't just submit when there's a legitimate offspring, when Crowley has a son born of his bonded mate. So..."  
Lucifer lowered himself next to Castiel's head, enjoying the whimpers of pain his youngest brother produced, "So...I kill you; that Omega abomination and everything else falls into place. Your existence has been a curse on my bloodline long enough."  
The Alpha wasn't expecting it. That made the hit to his temple more satisfying. Castiel had kept the sharp rock from the ground in his injured hand, covered in blood with the razor edge outwards. The stone sliced easily through Lucifer's skin as the impact knocked him on his ass.  
Cas moved quickly, silently but he wasn't running back to Winchester. No, he was straddling the waist of his older brother, gripping the rock in both hands and bringing it down to where he imagined Lucifer's head must be.  
The blind Omega amazingly on target.  
The larger were tried to strike out, attempted to twist at the waist and dislodge his agile younger brother with no success. Castiel continued to bash the stone into the Alpha's skull. Again and again and again. Sprays of warm blood rain down upon his hands, over the sleeves of his cloak, sprinkling hot drops across his face.  
And still he continued.  
His arms were tiring, Lucifer's pathetic begging and whines were quieting, the ups and down of his chest slowing. Cas knew logically that the Alpha was near death and yet the strikes never slowed down or changed location.  
Castiel had never fought back when the members of his home pack attacked him. Only gave the most pathetic attempt to detour them while he was raped yards away from his dying mother.  
But Lucifer threatened his pup. The Alpha spoke promises of pain to Little Ben. You will not find another were, Alpha or Beta, as intensely protective of their offspring. Omegas live for their pups, Omegas die for their pups. It's an instinctual biological imperative.  
Everyone has their limit. A moment in life where a part of their mind, their very soul snaps into place. When the enough is enough. Castiel had reached his.  
The body beneath him had stopped moving, stopped breathing and the heart had stopped pumping. Lucifer's skull was nothing but a choppy mess of bone and brain and blood. Cas finally dropped the rock into the pile that used to be a were's head and rolled off.  
He sat, legs pulled to his chest; throbbing forehead resting on his knees, in the snow, allowing the cold dampness to seep through his britches. Trying to pull himself back from murderous rage. Castiel needed to find his bearings, figure out which direction led back to the safety of Dean's arms.  
At first, he thought the Alpha's voice was in his head. A frantic tone drifting on the winter wind. Only when the scent of his mate twisted around the sound did he believe his ears.  
"Castiel!"  
"Here." his voice hoarse, throat dry, tongue thick and heavy.  
Crunching boots through snow, ragged breath and Dean was by his side. The Alpha dropped down next to his Omega and Cas felt a gloved hand stroke through his damp hair.  
"Omega-mine..." He whispered, tone laced with horror. "Baby...who is that? What happened?"  
"L-L-Lucifer." Castiel mumbled, answering both questions with that one word.  
"By Odin..." Dean breathed, pulling Cas's bloody body towards him, tracing palms along his arms, resting a warm hand across his mates' abdomen. "Are you hurt?"  
"Only bruised, maybe broken rib and" holding up his palm "A cut."  
A shifting of fabric and Dean stood, lifting his Omega into arms as if he were a tiny pup. Cas sighed; resting his head on his Alpha's shoulder. Only then; only when he was safe and warm with his mate, did Castiel allow himself to cry. Heartbreaking ragged sobs that echoed eerily through the woods around Winchester territory. 

*** 

Dean carried his trembling mate back to their settlement. Several were's caught sight of their bloody Honored Omega and rushed to help. The Head Alpha gave the slightest shake of his head, locking eyes with Benny and announcing.  
"We had a trespasser in the woods. Would you mind taking care of that for me?"  
Benny nodded, staying quiet. Dean's expression conveyed a simple request for no questions. He'd explain later when Castiel was calm.  
Without spoken words, Ellen and Jo understood what their Honored Omega needed. Gathering a tub and heating water in Dean's cabin as the small were allowed his Alpha to strip him of his tacky, sticky clothes.  
"Little Ben?" Cas asked with a cracked whimper.  
"Still at Bobby's, Omega-mine." Dean assured, "Completely schooled with his numbers and letters by now.".  
That brought the tiniest of grins to Castiel's face, soothing his mate's worry only slightly.  
When the Betas left, Dean removed his clothing, stepping into the tub with his mate. The Alpha gently washed his Omega's body, shampooing the blood and bone from Cas's hair twice. As the pink tinted water cooled, he helped Castiel out, toweling him dry before wrapping him in a thick quilt by the fire.  
They sat in silence for what seemed like hours. The Omega's trembling had stopped, the look of shock and pain finally fading from his face.  
"He said he wanted to kill Little Ben." Castiel explained in a loud whisper.  
Dean pushed the fury of those words to the back of his head, he could rage later. Now, he needed to be here for his mate.  
"You had no choice, Omega-mine. I'm proud of you."  
Cas huffed, "I never considered taking another were's life. Even after all that has happened to me. But I had to protect Little Ben, had to keep our unborn pup safe."  
Dean pulled Castiel in to his arms, holding his mate securely to his chest. Cas's breathing slowed, tears dried and the Omega found his way to sleep. Tucking him in warmly, the Alpha watched over him for hours before leaving to retrieve his pup. 

*** 

Epilogue 

Somehow Jess, Sam's mate, acquired the job of looking after the pups while the Winchester council met with members of the Piliger and Messenger packs.  
Little Ben tried to crawl through the spring grass after his toddling cousin, Henry. Little John, Dean and Cas's second pup, a calm Alpha with emerald green eyes, stayed cuddled on his aunt's swollen lap. Elizabeth seemed content to chew on dandelions. 

Castiel sat proudly next to his Alpha at the head of the dining hall table. Sam to their right, Benny to their left and their wise elders lined both sides, the far end holding five members of each rival pack. The point of the conference was to negotiate a truce between them. Cas caught unsettling scents from Piligers and Messengers, bringing bad memories and more than a little bit of anger to the normally passive Omega. 

It was decided that Beta Anna, Chuck's only surviving offspring other than Castiel, would lead the Messenger pack with her mate, a slimy sneer-faced Alpha called Zachariah. As nomads, they moved as the weather changed. It was agreed upon that, during their travels, they were to stay far away from both Piliger and Winchester packlands. 

The Piliger pack's new leadership was more complicated to arrange. Dean would not allow even the thought of his Omega son, Little Ben, to have any involvement with the pack whatsoever. He was the Winchester's Head Alpha's adopted son and Crowley's blood running through the pup's veins meant absolutely nothing.  
That left Crowley's only other surviving offspring, Ruby. Ruby had been mated to Lucifer and birthed female Beta pup named Lilith. While a widowed Beta could not rule over a pack independently, remating with an acceptable Alpha would settle the issue. Reluctantly, Meg's daughter agreed to an arranged coupling between herself and an older Alpha called Cain. Piligers were to respect the boundaries of their land. Any and all trespassing into Winchester territory be considered an act of war. It was the members of their pack that had murdered John Winchester and marked Dean's face. 

The Head Alpha's forgiveness could only stretch so far. 

 

Castiel was safe, happy and loved unconditionally.  
He knew Naomi smiled down upon him. 

Dean had finally found peace and an adoring mate.  
John and Mary sure to be proud of their oldest son. 

 

And while 'they lived happily ever after' is an overused, stereotypical ending to a story, Castiel, Honored Omega and his mate, Dean, Head Alpha of the Winchester pack did just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't usually leave notes at the end of my stories but to all of my followers/readers a sincere THANK YOU!


End file.
